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Lofty HuRIS plans face hiccups

KATHMANDU, JAN 15 -
In what was initially launched as a means to keep adequate and timely record of human resources on health (HRH) deployed by the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) in different regions of the country, the Human Resource Information System (HuRIS) hasn’t been able to function well as very few health officials have taken part in the online portal.

Since its inception in 1995 with technical support from the then GTZ, HuRIS has just been able to compile the total workforce, but has not been able to update the information. The section that looks after the system initially began at the Department of Health Services, but it is now at the MoHP.

“Despite various efforts to update the information, we have felt that health officials in different parts of the country don’t want to use the new technology,” Kabi Raj Khanal, under-secretary and the chief of HuRIS, said. “Had they become part of the online portal, understanding the deployment system would have been easy,” he said.

Khanal added that they had trained officers at District Public Health Offices and District Health Offices, but in vain.

According to him, the system can project the future needs and show the doctor-population ratio, the total HRH needs of the country and other pertinent information on health.

“For instance, if an official is transferred to another part of the country, the centre will get the information only after around 6 months. However, if the information is updated through the online system it will be easy for the MoHP to deploy other officials in the vacant post while also keeping track of the leaving officer,” Khanal said.

The Nepal Health Sector Support Programme-2 (NHSSP-2), a five year plan of the MoHP, has, however, sught to address the issue. According to the programme, the ‘human resource information system (HuRIS) is not up-to-date and is believed to contain only three-fourth of the total personnel.’ Through the programme, the government will try to strengthen the system within five years through training, equipping and networking with other information systems for retrieving, analysing, disseminating and using information.’

NHSSP 2 adds that ‘HuRIS will be made compatible with the personnel information system (PIS) of the Ministry of General Administration and appropriate links will be established between the PIS and HuRIS.’

Khanal said they will be able to train officials in all the 75 districts of the country on using the information system for this fiscal year only, which he hopes will expedite the database updating process.

Posted on: 2012-01-16 08:30

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