Using routine health statistics in the monitoring and evaluation of primary health care (PHC) activity in Sierra Leone and the Gambia

ABSTRACT

This paper intends to examine the extent to which the provision of Primary Health Care can be monitored using routine health statistics in Sierra Leone and the Gambia. The content of the paper covers a brief description of the PHC structure and the health information system developed to monitor the activities. The main thrust of the paper is the evaluation of the statistics collected between 1988 and 1991 to assess the coverage of reporting; disease patterns using case episodes and output statistics based on children immunized and women receiving ante-natal care in each country separately. The concluding section of the paper addresses the possible strengths and weaknesses in the use of health statistics for the monitoring and evaluation of PHC in both countries based on the evidences presented