Today, the Ifakara Health Institute, in collaboration with the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) - Mbeya, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and Unisanté – Centre universitaire de médecine générale et santé publique, convened a National Advisory Committee Feedback Meeting. 

Opened by Dr. Felix Bundala, Deputy Director of Division of Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health, in the Ministry of Health, the purpose was to gather high-level expert feedback on the DYNAMIC study results prior to the stakeholders’ dissemination event to be held tomorrow.

The key participants included the Ministry of Health, President's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government Tanzania (PO-RALG), Regional Health Management Teams (RHMTs). The Paediatric Association Of Tanzania and Muhimbili National Hospital who gathered together to finalize the Dynamic Study Results document for dissemination to stakeholders.

The DYNAMIC study focuses on the use of the Digital Clinical Decision Algorithm to reduce antibiotic prescriptions and improve the quality of care in primary health facilities in Tanzania. It has been implemented by Ifakara and partners since 2020 and seeks to promote the adoption of digital tools, particularly in low-resource settings, for the benefit of Tanzanians.

Live demonstration 

The day featured live demonstrations by the DYNAMIC team, showcasing the medAL Suite, a collection of tools supporting the project these include medAL-Creator, a revolutionary medical algorithm creator where clinicians can drag and drop algorithmic logic in a user-friendly interface, eliminating the need for coding, medAL-Mentor assists in monitoring both medical and operational data and medAL-Reader, tablet-based intuitive consultation guide designed to assist healthcare professionals in making optimal diagnoses and selecting the most effective treatments and management strategies, medAL-Mentor assists in monitoring both medical and operational data and medAL-Outbreak aids in detecting epidemiological patterns as they emerge in real-time. 

Finally, the team watched a video on Community sensitization on the rational use of antibiotic drugs linked to the overarching goal of the study.

The Dynamic Project helps clinical decision making and improves the quality of diagnoses for sick children in Tanzania and Rwanda, thanks to an innovative clinical support algorithm available on a tablet.

The NAC left impressed by the work done so far by the team and expressed “excitement” to collaborate in the opportunities to scale up as stressed by Erick Kitali, the Director of Information and communications technology (ICT) from the President's Office - Regional Administration and Local Government.
This is the second round of feedback that the DYNAMIC team has received, the first was about a week ago in Morogoro with Community Health Management Teams (CHMT) from various districts in Morogoro, including Mlimba District Council, Ifakara Town Council, and Ulanga District Council. Read more on this here.