Part of the ChildCount+ implementation process involves the daunting task of registering all members of the community. Community Health Workers across all MVP sites are equipped with a standardized paper registration form. The form includes fields for Health ID numbers, First Name, Family Name, Gender, Age/DOB, Head of Household Health ID, etc. Community Health Workers fill out the fields either by referencing community member’s health booklets or by briefly interviewing them.
In Mbola, Tanzania, we have begun a registration form trial exercise in a village called Lolangulu. The trial began on Monday, 14 June, and we have already experienced two issues with the process.
- One of the Head of Households has two wives in two separate villages. This raises some interesting and challenging questions. Do we register the Head of Household in one village and not the other or in both villages? If we are to use one location, when we register the other household members from the other village, which Head of Household location should be used?
- With the focus of ChildCount+ on newborn, maternal and child health, only Children Under 5, Expectant Mothers and Heads of Households are registered. Many household members ask why this is the case. Maybe we should think about possibility of registering all household members seen during the visit.
Despite such challenges, the overall process is going well, and I am confident that some of the issues above and mistakes that may arise will be addressed during the retraining process.

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