Guatemalan government officials strengthen their skills in database analysis

• Twenty-two officials of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS, its Spanish acronym) received training from CATIE.

March 15, 2023. The course on exploratory data analysis, developed by the National Information Platform on Nutrition (PiNN) project, in coordination with the Education Directorate of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) in Costa Rica, concluded on March 10 in Guatemala.

The course was attended by 20 officials from the Health Management Information System (SIGSA, its Spanish acronym), the National Reproductive Health Program (PNSR, its Spanish acronym), the Food and Nutritional Security Program (PROSAN, its Spanish acronym), the General Directorate of the Comprehensive Health Care System (DGSIAS, its Spanish acronym), the Department for the Regulation of Personal Care Programs (DRPAP, its Spanish acronym), the Comprehensive Health Care System (SIAS, its Spanish acronym), and the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS, its Spanish acronym) of Guatemala.

According to Juan Diego Chang, specialist in food and nutrition security statistics of the PiNN project, the course aimed to provide theoretical and practical elements in the exploratory analysis of data, develop skills and abilities for the creation of graphs, their interpretation and communication; it also covered topics such as database cleaning, relationship between variables and cluster analysis.

Mario Tipol, responsible for maternal mortality surveillance at the PNSR, said that the course was very useful because it provided them with graphing tools that will strengthen the analysis, interpretation and transfer of results to the authorities to improve decision-making.

For Nidia Ixcolin, PROSAN normative technician, the course was an opportunity to standardize concepts and procedures in data analysis. "It focused on strengthening the capacities of the technical teams, which we hope later, with the support of PiNN and CATIE, can also be replicated at the operational level, where this local analysis should be promoted, because the application of tools and knowledge is in their hands," said Ixcolin.

Evelyn López Morales, SIGSA's information coordinator, indicated that the course helped to reaffirm a culture of data use, to promote the analysis of MSPAS administrative data. "In my case I belong to the information coordination and I am in charge of the statistics dissemination area, where we only share data, now with this course our objective is that SICSA can provide statistical data with criteria already defined at the ministry level," said Lopez.

The course concluded with an exercise in which multi-sector groups were formed, with the intention of putting into practice what was learned so that, in an integrated manner, analysis and use of data for decision-making could be carried out.

The PiNN project is executed by CATIE, financed by the European Union Delegation in Guatemala, and one of its actions is aimed at strengthening the capacities of officials of the project's beneficiary institutions.