• Introduction

    Intro_Image

    This platform is designed to enhance the capacity of health professionals across the African Region through high-quality, interactive training modules. Developed with the support of the WHO AFRO HIS Team, this platform provides a robust e-learning environment tailored to meet the unique needs of Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCoD) training and data analysis.

    The MCCoD Training Course equips health professionals with the knowledge and skills needed for accurate certification of causes of death, ensuring consistency and reliability in mortality data.

    The Data Analysis Course, will empower learners to analyze health data effectively, offering tools for data visualization and interpretation to support evidence-based decision-making.

    With user-friendly design and continuous support, this platform is your gateway to mastering critical health information system skills and advancing public health outcomes.

Available courses

DataSmart-Health Facility Data: From Collection to Action

Introduction

A robust health information system (HIS) that produces reliable, timely, and high-quality data is essential for health program managers to monitor, evaluate, and enhance health system performance, enabling evidence-informed decision-making. Over the past decades, the understanding of HIS development's role in global health systems has significantly advanced. However, the use of information for evidence-informed decision-making—particularly data produced by routine health information systems (RHIS)—remains weak in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Routine health information systems (also known as health facility and community information systems) generate data at regular intervals (no longer than a year) collected from public and private health facilities and institutions, as well as community-level healthcare posts and clinics. Most of this data, documenting health status, health services, and health resources, is gathered by healthcare providers during their routine work, supplemented by supervisors and ongoing health facility surveys.

Purpose, Audience, and Content of This Course

To improve RHIS and ultimately health outcomes, WHO-AFRO took the initiative to develop this comprehensive course on Health Facility Data. The course addresses the urgent need to build the capacity of the health workforce in Africa. Its purpose is to enhance participants' ability to conceptualize, design, develop, govern, and manage an RHIS, and to use the information generated by the system to improve public health practice and service delivery.

The course is designed for a broad spectrum of the health workforce, including Health facility managers, data managers, monitoring and evaluation officers, public health professionals, and other stakeholders involved in health data analysis and decision-making. All participants should be engaged in or interested in performing tasks related to RHIS. The course can be delivered to any one of these target audiences or a combination of them. 

In this core course, participants will study the design, implementation, and strengthening of RHIS, which is the most common source of information on health services management and programs. An RHIS also provides regular information for many core indicators of the national health strategy. Using practical case studies, participants will learn how to improve the performance of an RHIS by producing reliable data to inform decisions at all levels of the health system.