The AMPATH Nutritional Information system: Designing a fooddistribution electronic record system in Rural Kenya

Abstract

The AMPATH program is a leading initiative in rural Kenya providing healthcareservices to combat HIV. Malnutrition and food insecurity are common among AMPATH patients and theNutritional Information System (NIS) was designed, with cross-functional collaboration between engineering andmedical communities, as a comprehensive electronic system to record and assist in effective food distribution in aregion with poor infrastructure.Design:The NIS was designed modularly to support the urgent need of a system for the growing fooddistribution program. The system manages the ordering, storage, packing, shipping, and distribution of freshproduce from AMPATH farms and dry food supplements from the World Food Programme (WFP) and U.S.Agency for International Development (USAID) based on nutritionists’ prescriptions for food supplements.Additionally, the system also records details of food distributed to support future studies.Measurements:Patients fed weekly, patient visits per month.Results:With inception of the NIS, the AMPATH food distribution program was able to support 30,000 personsfed weekly, up from 2,000 persons. Patient visits per month also saw a marked increase.Conclusion:The NIS’ modular design and frequent, effective interactions between developers and users haspositively affected the design, implementation, support, and modifications of the NIS. It demonstrates the successof collaboration between engineering and medical communities, and more importantly the feasibility fortechnology readily available in a modern country to contribute to healthcare delivery in developing countries likeKenya and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa