USAID’s Health for All project improves quality of care through HNQIS formative supervision

Improved formative supervision strengthens the ability and motivation of providers in Angola.

This helps build capacity and provides frontline workers with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to effectively address key public health needs of their communities.

“Previously, I wasn’t confident enough in some aspects of my work, like management of fever in pregnant women, and determining fetal age and position. Thanks to the formative supervision visits I have received, now I can confidently conduct physical examinations and manage fever in pregnant women, in addition to correctly filling in Antenatal Care patient registers. I look forward to continued support in the future.” These are the words of Luzia Camba Glória Vungo an antenatal care nurse who works in the Gasolina health facility in the municipality of Chitado. Her health facility is 15 kilometers from the provincial capital of Saurimo, Lunda Norte province. 

Equipping frontline health workers with the right skills and knowledge in the fight against malaria is critical to improving maternal and child health outcomes in Angola. 

The National Malaria Control Program, with support from USAID’s Health for All project funded by the President’s Malaria Initiative is building the technical capacity of municipal malaria and reproductive health teams. Specific activities include the use of the Health Network Quality Improvement System (HNQIS), which is an application that contains questions to evaluate healthcare providers performence.

This new technical approach focuses on improving the quality of key processes in the management of fever cases. It also develops a more real connection between training and supervision, identifies critical information and skills gaps among health workers, and develops tailored evidence-based training interventions for each health area.

HNQIS has been a valuable tool for improving the supervision of healthcare providers. For instance, from October 2019 to March 2020, 276 (out of 360) health facilities with antenatal care services in Angola were supervised. As a result, provider’s performance information is available in real-time and can be used to inform the need for training.  Also, gaps can be identified along the continuum of malaria case management.

The Health for All project continues to provide frontline workers with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to effectively address public health needs, especially as it relates to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of malaria in pregnant women.

Malaria is responsible for 25% of maternal mortality in Angola.  Nevertheless, only an estimated 31% of pregnant women—who are at highest risk—take the recommended four doses of preventive treatment.

“Thanks to the formative supervision visits I have received, I now can confidently conduct physical examinations and [effectively] manage fever in pregnant women.”

              Luzia Vungo, Nurse in Lunda Norte