16 October 2024, Cairo, Egypt – Efficient health information systems (HISs) improve health outcomes and the management of health services by facilitating better-informed policies and planning. In many countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, however, health data are often incomplete, fragmented or of inadequate quality, hindering the ability of decision-makers to formulate timely, efficient and concise health plans.
WHO is working to strengthen national HISs, from enhancing the collection of data and information to developing costed action plans to guide investments.
The comprehensive assessment of national HISs conducted in 2016 in half of the Region’s countries and territories revealed many gaps in national HISs, and last year WHO reported slow progress in health-related sustainable development goals (SDGs) indicators at the regional level, with lack of data making it impossible to measure progress in 1 of the 3 SDG indicators.
Digitalization of health data is now an integral component of efficient national HISs and global and regional digital health strategies have been developed. Effective digitalization is heavily dependent on national-level plans and governance mechanisms, investment in infrastructure and promotion of WHO recommended interoperability and data standards at all levels of use. A strong and effective HIS needs to be powered through the development of a digitalized and integrated data system that encompasses the data life cycle, from collection through to analysis, dissemination and use to improve decision-making.
Yet in low-income countries of the Region, health data are largely generated by paper-based systems. While some countries have developed their HIS through domestic resources, in others the data system continues to be donor-driven, reliant on funds from initiatives such as Gavi and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. Many countries have competing and incompatible data systems that neither meet the required standards nor cover the needs of the country. This results in the duplication of efforts and the waste of human, financial and information technology resources.
The new regional strategy to enhance and digitalize HISs aims to ensure that countries generate high-quality, timely, relevant, disaggregated and reliable data to inform policies and programmes in alignment with WHO priorities and to advance efforts towards achieving the health-related SDGs. A strategic goal of the strategy is to invest in infrastructure and secure the necessary human and financial resources required for a sustainable HIS. Objectives include ensuring that financial resources are identified and mobilized to strengthen HISs, sustain HIS operations and enhance digitalization, and that the necessary human resources are available for the collection, management and use of data to develop, implement and maintain an integrated national HIS platform.
In our socioeconomically diverse region, national HISs have attained widely differing levels of development: 60% of countries lack effective HIS national coordination mechanisms, a situation which is compounded by limited funding, inadequate human resources, information technology gaps, high staff turnover, political instability and emergencies.
As part of WHO’s support of countries to strengthen their national HISs, the Seventy-first session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean is invited to endorse the regional strategy for enhancement and digitalization of HISs.
Related links
Global strategy on digital health 2020-2025
Health information and statistics
Regional strategy for fostering digital health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (2023-2027)