Effectiveness of National TB Program's monitoring and evaluation system in Papua New Guinea: An onsite data verification at service delivery points

This presentation outlines methodologies used to evaluate the Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) system of the Papua New Guinea National Department of Health (NDOH) National TB Program (NTP). This presentation highlights findings of an Onsite Data Verification (OSDV) at service delivery points, which reveals a disconnect between what is outlined in the NTP M&E plan and what is actually happening on the ground. The NDOH, as a Global Fund grant recipient, must report performance against programmatic indicator targets. The Global Fund mobilizes the Local Fund Agent (LFA) to go to service delivery points and conduct an OSDV to confirm reported programmatic performance. For the OSDV the LFA utilizes a bottom-up audit trail approach reviewing data in primary records, and for a point of comparison, aggregated provincial summary reports within a specified reporting period. Redundancies in information flows and unnecessary parallel reporting systems in the NDOH were identified by the LFA as data collection constraints and resulting in an increased potential for human error. Poor harmonization among NTP partners (World Vision and JTAI) due to lack of familiarity with the NTP M&E strategy was noted as a fundamental implementation challenge. Coordination amongst NDOH staff as well as between NTP partners must occur so accurate data can be collected and reported in a timely fashion. The presentation will conclude with an analysis of lessons learned.