Last week, CapacityPlus released a new version of the iHRIS Manage and iHRIS Qualify software as well as a new subject guide on faith-based organizations.

The two software programs, iHRIS Manage and iHRIS Qualify, are designed to help users manage the health workforce and track health workers’ training, licensure, and certification information. The 4.0.12 versions offer enhanced data management tools for cleaning data, which are essential in aggregating data into meaningful reports. The new tools also allow a user to safely delete data, share standardized data lists across multiple iHRIS installations, and include fields for information about the health workers including language proficiency and type of position. In addition, there is now an easier method for iHRIS administrators to add custom data validation, such as ensuring that dates entered into the software are logical. This release marks a significant step forward with the introduction of a new Debian packaging system, which makes the software installation and upgrade process easier and more automated.

In addition, the HRH Global Resource Center, CapacityPlus’s digital library of human resources for health information, introduced a new subject guide on faith-based organizations’ role and influence in health care and the global health workforce. In many African countries, faith-based organizations have been providing health care for a century or more and are crucial to national health systems. The HRH Global Resource Center’s collection includes materials on faith-based organizations’ influence on HIV/AIDS, family planning, and maternal health, and their role in training and supporting health workers. Selected resources include:

• Part of the Solution: Faith-Based Responses to HIV and AIDS in Africa
• Training Health Workers in Africa: Documenting Faith-Based Organizations' Contributions
• Faith-Based Models for Improving Maternal and Newborn Health
• African Christian Health Associations: Joining Forces for Improving Human Resources for Health.

CapacityPlus is led by IntraHealth International and funded by USAID.