Strengthening health data systems
have become essential to improving
global public health. In addition
to providing information for monitoring
and fighting communicable diseases,
these systems serve as an early warning
system for epidemics. Currently many
national and provincial health systems
use paper-and-pen systems to collect
health data. These systems result
in unacceptable error rates (as paper
forms are transcribed into databases),
thus, creating unacceptable delays
and costing too much money.
The United Nations Foundation is working
with the Vodafone Group Foundation
to address these challenges in Africa
by collaborating with WHO and national
health ministries to build digital
health data systems. These systems
are powered by data gathered by on-the-ground
health professionals equipped with
personal digital assistants (PDAs)
and flexible epidemiological surveillance
software. The Partnership launched
a major program in June 2006 to fund
training, software, and mobile computing
devices for the full complement of
health data officers in Burkina Faso,
Kenya, and Zambia to support the fight
against measles, through the NGO DataDyne.
This deployment has been successful.
WHO and local ministries believe that
the new systems will result in a more
effective and efficient measles control
effort. Following this three-country
rollout, we will create new digital
health systems in over twenty other
measles-affected countries in Africa,
while working to make these technology
tools available to health workers
fighting other diseases, such as malaria,
and to integrate additional applications,
such as health mapping.
