Touch Foundation Inc

OUR MISSION IS TO SAVE LIVES AND RELIEVE HUMAN SUFFERING. FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE SCHEDULE O.

M-MAMA PROGRAM: IN FY21, TOUCH CONTINUED TO WORK WITH PATHFINDER INTERNATIONAL (OUR IMPLEMENTATION PARTNER) TO TRANSITION THE MANAGEMENT OF THE M-MAMA PROGRAM TO THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES OF THE SHINYANGA REGION, WHERE THE EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (EMTS) CONTINUES TO OPERATE IN ALL 6 DISTRICTS. THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES BUDGETED AND ARE NOW PAYING 100% OF TRANSPORTATION COSTS AS WELLS AS FULLY STAFFING AND OPERATING THE DISPATCH CENTERS. TOUCH COMPLETED THE CONSTRUCTION OF THREE C-SECTION OPERATING THEATERS AND EXPANSION OF ONE NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT IN THE REGION. FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE SCHEDULE O.ADDITIONALLY, TOUCH COMPLETED THE PROCUREMENT OF CRITICAL MATERNAL AND NEONATAL HEALTHCARE EQUIPMENT REQUESTED BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO STRENGTHEN THE HEALTHCARE DELIVERY SERVICES IN THE REGION. TOUCH OBTAINED AN ADDITIONAL $1M GRANT FROM GRAND CHALLENGES CANADA (GCC) WHICH INCLUDES A 6-MONTH EXTENSION OF SUPPORT TO THE SHINYANGA EMTS STARTING IN OCTOBER 2022, AND FUNDING THAT WILL BE USED TO EXPAND THE M-MAMA PROGRAM IN LESOTHO AND POSSIBLY GHANA. IN FY21, TOUCH COLLABORATED WITH VODAFONE FOUNDATION TO START DISCUSSIONS WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF TANZANIA TO AGREE ON A SCALE UP PLA OF THE M-MAMA PROGRAM TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. THE DISCUSSIONS INCLUDE AGREEMENT ON A SUSTAINABILITY PLAN TO ENSURE THE GOVERNMENT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROGRAM AND IS COMMITTED TO FUNDING ALL PROGRAM OPERATIONAL EXPENSES BY THE END OF THE PROGRAM.TOUCH ALSO COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY THE HYPERTENSION SCREENING PROGRAM FOR MOTHERS IN COLLABORATION WITH ASTRAZENECA'S HEALTHY HEART AFRICA PROGRAM. THE PROGRAM TRAINED HEALTH WORKERS AND PROCURED NEEDED EQUIPMENT TO ENSURE HYPERTENSION SCREENING OF PREGNANT WOMEN DURING ANC VISITS AT LOWER LEVEL FACILITIES. THE PROGRAM SCREENED A TOTAL OF 75,000 PREGNANT WOMEN DURING THEIR ANTENATAL VISITS, EXCEEDING THE ORIGINAL TARGET OF 50,000 WOMEN. TOUCH, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTION OF MEDICAL RESEARCH (NIMR), COMPLETED THE FINAL MONITORING & EVALUATION (M&E) REPORT FOR THE PROGRAM.IN APRIL 2021, TOUCH LAUNCHED THE FIRST M-MAMA DISPATCH CENTER AND STARTED M-MAMA EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION SERVICE IN LESOTHO. DURING THE PRE-LAUNCH ACTIVITIES, TOUCH WORKED WITH SOFTWARE DEVELOPER SEAMGEN TO FINALIZE THE M-MAMA MULTI-COUNTRY APPLICATION AND SET IT UP FOR OPERATIONS IN LESOTHO. TOUCH ALSO WORKED WITH CHAI, OUR IMPLEMENTING PARTNER ON THE GROUND, TO SET UP DISPATCH CENTERS, TRAIN GOVERNMENT STAFF AND DISPATCHERS, AND RECRUIT COMMUNITY DRIVERS IN THE FIRST 3 DISTRICTS OF OPERATION. TOUCH ALSO WORKED WITH RIDERS FOR HEALTH, LONG TERM GOVERNMENT OF LESOTHO PARTNER, TO TRANSITION TO THEM THE PAYMENT OF DRIVERS AS PART OF THE SUSTAINABILITY PLAN AGREED WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF LESOTHO. TOWARDS THE END OF FY21, WE ALSO STARTED PLANNING FOR THE EXPANSION OF THE SYSTEM TO ALL REMAINING DISTRICTS.IN FEBRUARY 2021, TOUCH HIRED A PROJECT MANAGER AND DEPLOYED THEM IN ACCRA, GHANA TO SUPPORT VODAFONE FOUNDATION'S EFFORT TO EXPAND THE M-MAMA PROGRAM TO GHANA. THE PROJECT MANAGER PROVIDED TECHNICAL EXPERTISE TO VODAFONE FOUNDATION ON THE M-MAMA SOLUTION DURING DISCUSSIONS WITH KEY GOVERNMENT OF GHANA STAKEHOLDERS. THE OBJECTIVE OF VODAFONE FOUNDATION IS TO AGREE WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANA ON A SUSTAINABILITY PLAN WHICH INCLUDES COST-SHARING OF THE M-MAMA OPERATIONAL COSTS BEFORE THE START OF THE PROGRAM.

HUMAN RESOURCES FOR HEALTH (HRH), DEPLOYMENT & RETENTION AND POLICY: IN FY 21, TOUCH CONTINUED TO COLLABORATE WITH THE USAID TO FINALIZE TOUCH'S PRIORITIZATION & OPTIMIZATION ANALYSIS (POA) SYSTEM FOR USE BY THE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT (PO-RALG). AS THE USAID FUNDED PS3 PROJECT ENDED, TOUCH STRENGTHENED THE RELATIONSHIP AND ENGAGED DIRECTLY WITH PO-RALG. TOUCH DISCUSSED AND AGREED ON THE BUSINESS AND ICT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SYSTEM AND AT THE END OF THE YEAR FINALIZED THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POA FOR PO-RALG, RECEIVING POSITIVE FEEDBACK ON ARCHITECTURE AND OVERALL FUNCTIONALITIES FROM THE PO-RALG TEAM. TOUCH STARTED WORKING ON THE ICT REQUIREMENTS FOR MIGRATION OF THE SYSTEM TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVERS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE SCHEDULE O.AT THE END OF FY21, TOUCH ALSO RECEIVED THE FORMAL REQUEST FROM THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH (MOH) TO EXPAND THE POA SYSTEM TO SECONDARY AND TERTIARY HEALTH FACILITIES AND TO INCLUDE ALL HEALTH CADRES IN THE COUNTRY. TOUCH PLANS TO START WORKING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOOL DURING THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.IN FY21, TOUCH COMPLETED THE DISSEMINATION TO THE NIGERIA USAID MISSION ON THE RESULTS OF THE POA ANALYSIS FOR PEPFAR HEALTH WORKER DISTRIBUTION AND PLANNING ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IN EARLY FY21, TOUCH ALSO COMPLETED THE SUPPORT TO THE DATA.FI PROJECT AND FINALIZED THE HRH PLANNING TOOL BASED ON THE POA ALGORITHM. TOUCH ALSO WAS ENGAGED BY THE HRH2030 PROGRAM UPON REQUEST OF THE MOZAMBIQUE USAID MISSION TO CARRY ON A SECOND POA ANALYSIS FOR PEPFAR HEALTH WORKERS INS THE COUNTRY. TOUCH WORKED WITH THE MISSION AND USAID/CDC IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS AND DELIVERED THE FINAL ANALYSIS AT THE END OF THE YEAR. TOUCH ALSO TRAINED IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS ON THE USE OF THE ANALYSIS.

HEALTH TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT (HTM): DURING THIS YEAR, TOUCH CONTINUED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT (HTM) PROGRAM TO IMPROVE ENGINEERING AND MAINTENANCE SERVICES AT BUGANDO MEDICAL CENTRE (BMC). TOUCH WORKED WITH BMC AND ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP TO DEVELOP A PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ENGINEERING TEAM, INCLUDING PEOPLE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS AND TRAINING NEEDS. WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT, TOUCH CONTINUED TO WORK WITH THE EMBEDDED TECHNICAL & PERFORMANCE MANAGER TO SUSTAIN AND EXPAND IMPROVEMENTS IN EQUIPMENT UPTIME KPI TRACKING, PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE AND WORK ORDER TRACKING. THE TOUCH TEAM ALSO STARTED WORKING TO SET UP AN INVENTORY SYSTEM TO SUPPORT PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE OF EQUIPMENT. FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE SCHEDULE O. DUE TO DELAYS IN BMC LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT TO ACTION THE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY, WHICH INCLUDED HIRING OF DEPARTMENT LEAD AND REALLOCATION OF NEW PERFORMERS IN THE TEAM, TOUCH WAS UNABLE TO PROCEED WITH ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS IN TECHNICAL TRAINING FOR THE TEAM.