Functioning health information systems are the backbone of malaria control and elimination programs worldwide, providing information on
where parasites can be found in people, where transmission is occurring, how interventions should be targeted, and whether regions are
progressing towards malaria control goals. In over 50 countries, including high malaria-endemic countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya,
DHIS2 is the de-facto health management information system (HMIS) and malaria surveillance platform used by policymakers nationally and
sub-nationally to make programmatic decisions against a backdrop of decreasing resources. DHIS2 is an open source, generic, extensible, and
proven platform used to collect, store, and analyze information across multiple domains, predominantly global health.
Landscape assessments of malaria surveillance systems and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)’s ongoing work supporting national
malaria programs reveal a number of challenges in operationalizing and optimizing use of DHIS2 to improve malaria programs, hampering
evidence-based decision-making. As a system used primarily by the public sector, it has limited private sector data collected or analyzed within
it. DHIS2 also focuses predominantly on the collection and analysis of routine aggregated and case data, limiting the collection and analysis of
ad-hoc data such as quality assurance or supportive supervision data. Finally, while the system has easy-to-use dashboard and analysis
capabilities, countries continue to struggle with designing and setting up user-appropriate dashboards.
With these limitations in context, CHAI has identified three key opportunities to augment DHIS2 functionality in response to the Global Good
Software Development and Support announcement . These opportunities strengthen malaria data management across the spectrum from
data collection, to data analysis to data use. This one year project will include the development of resources to help countries incorporate retail
private sector data into DHIS2, new functionality for improved data analysis, and guidance on strengthening dashboard development and use. In
addition to the development, configuration, and testing of features, the project will generate three documents that will provide operational
guidance to countries interested in adapting these opportunities for malaria and/or other disease areas.