Emerging theme: Health information systems - Development of HMIS in poor countries: Uganda as a case study

Planning, monitoring and evaluation of healthcare programmes provides a strong foundation for the realisation of quality health service delivery systems. This involves regular collection, analysis and interpretation of health information to guide proper decision-making and design of appropriate interventions. Therefore, establishment of a robust management information system in any health program is crucial for the efficient delivery of health services to the population. The main challenges are in-patient data collection and processing, regular availability of HMIS tools, data utilisation, and electronic data management.