District Health Planning and Reporting Tool (DiHPART) - A tool for evidence based planning and budgeting at the District Level in Ghana.

Background: Allocations of the scarce resources at the district level in Ghana are not according to priority needs or the burden of disease. The Ghana Essential Health Intervention Project (GEHIP) seeks to introduce a qualitative and quantitative district health planning tool – District Health Planning Analysis and Reporting Tool (DiHPART) - to address gaps in service delivery and reduce maternal and under five mortality as the country strives to achieve the Millennium Goals. The planning tool was adapted and developed from a similar tool used in Tanzania as well as data from Navrongo Health Research Center and the Ministry of Health.
Objective: The objective for developing DiHPART is to give districts a planning tool for allocating healthcare resources according to burden of disease to facilitate rationale healthcare planning and decision making at the district level
Methodology: As an example of South-South collaboration, Ghana in 2003 started collaborative work with Tanzania to adopt the PlanRep, an integrated planning; budgeting and reporting software used by districts in Tanzania.Through the GEHIP project, GHS has adopted and customized the software for use in Ghana.
Results: The Ghana Health Service now has a tool that helps districts to develop plans and budget consistent with the national planning and budgeting.