Reflections, Learnings and Proposed Interventions on Data Validation and Data Use for Action in Health: A Case of Mozambique

TL;DR

This paper reflects on over 15 years of experience with health information systems in Mozambique, analyzing how digital platforms impact data quality and use, identifying gaps, and proposing interventions to improve health data management in LMICs.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of digital health data implementation in Mozambique, highlighting challenges and proposing targeted interventions for better data validation and utilization.

Findings

Digital platforms have improved data collection but face quality challenges.

Gaps include data validation, trust, and use in decision-making.

Proposed interventions aim to enhance data quality and actionable insights.

Abstract

The ideal of a country's health information system (HIS) is to develop processes that ensure easy collection of relevant data and enable their conversion to useful health indicators, which guide decision making and support health interventions. In many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), actively engaged in health reform efforts, the role of HIS is crucial, particularly in terms of quality of data and its ability to inspire trust in decision makers to actively use routine HIS data. Recognizing digital platforms potential to support those efforts, several interventions have been implemented in many LMICs. In turn, while the transition from paper registers to digital platforms carries the promise of improving data quality processes, this promise has been notoriously complex to materialize in practice. The authors draw upon more than 15 years of experience implementing HIS in Mozambique to understand how the potential of digital platforms have been realized with respect to data quality, what are the gaps and required remedial steps.