Yet tracking only initial doses fails to reveal whether the program remains effective over time.
Tracking whether individuals return for their second and third doses is also essential for the health department. The initial cohort scheduled for their second dose must do so by early December. This is facilitated by a digital platform called SyNCH, which links LEN clinics across all provinces excluding the Western Cape.
Tracking LEN Roll-out
The Synchronised National Communication in Health system, or SyNCH, was created by the public health intelligence group Health Systems Trust (HST) and ASG Technologies in collaboration with the national health department. It was initially designed to manage medication for stable chronic patients who retrieve treatments from non-clinic pickup points.
For LEN users, this system ensures their visits are digitally recorded. When they visit another LEN clinic connected to SyNCH, healthcare providers can access details about prior LEN visits, including the timing of their last dose. This enables individuals to continue using LEN without frequenting the same clinic biannually.
The information entered at clinics feeds into a LEN dashboard that allows health officials to see what is happening with the roll-out without waiting months for reports to work their way up through the health system. Officials can see how many people are choosing LEN or the daily HIV prevention pill and break the figures down by age, gender, and area—from province all the way down to individual clinics.
Importance of Data
A national total can hide local problems, and more detailed data can help identify these issues. For example, a headline figure might show that thousands of people have received LEN, but it won’t necessarily tell officials that uptake is low in one district, that a particular age group is being missed, or that a clinic needs extra support.
As the programme expands, another metric gains importance: the number of people returning for subsequent injections. Each LEN dose provides six months of protection, and if many individuals fail to return for follow-up injections, the programme will not achieve its intended impact.
SyNCH maintains individual-level records of LEN use, enabling the health department to track patient returns rather than just tallying administered doses. This transforms data from a record of past events into a tool for shaping future improvements.
The Western Cape is an exception, using a separate electronic patient-record system. While LEN users there can move between participating clinics within the province, their records remain disconnected from SyNCH clinics nationwide.
This digital system helps health officials monitor LEN usage and identify where supplies are running low.