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| Mothers wait for their babies’ immunisation at a primary health centre in Masaka, Nasarawa State, in April 2021. File photograph. HarunaSylvester / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. |
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that weaknesses in health information systems across its African Region could delay urgent interventions, obscure preventable risks and leave authorities struggling to identify communities that need services.
The organisation issued the warning as it released findings from an assessment conducted in 2024 across 40 countries. It presented the report at the opening of the First Africa Health Data Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday, 10 November.
The report announcement cited Nigeria’s Bauchi State as an example of how authorities can use information to improve outreach. Health officials examined vaccination data alongside community information to identify children who had missed routine immunisation and direct attention towards underserved communities.
Across the region, however, the adoption of digital reporting platforms has outpaced the introduction of electronic patient records. Although 43 of WHO’s 47 African member states use digital platforms for routine health reporting, only 20 per cent of the countries assessed reported implementing digital patient medical records.
WHO said information held by hospitals, laboratories and other services could consequently remain disconnected, limiting authorities’ understanding of health needs and their ability to organise services.
The report, The Maturity and Functionality of Health Information System in the WHO African Region, also identified weaknesses in the capacity to interpret information. Only 43 per cent of countries assessed reported sufficient capacity to analyse data at health-facility level, while 25 per cent reported adequate capacity to check its quality.
Death reporting presented another concern. Nineteen of the 40 countries said authorities received notification of at least 80 per cent of deaths. Twenty-one reported documenting causes for at least 80 per cent of registered deaths.
WHO warned that incomplete documentation could conceal recurring causes of preventable deaths. Its Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, called for investment, trained personnel and better coordination to ensure information informs healthcare decisions.
The report also described Zimbabwe’s previous reliance on paper records for reporting maternal and perinatal deaths. Those records could take weeks or months to reach decision-makers, slowing the identification of risks that authorities might otherwise address.
WHO launched its Regional Health Data Hub in August 2026 to bring information from different health programmes together. The platform aims to make records easier to retrieve, examine and compare, helping officials monitor health trends, identify populations receiving insufficient services and decide where to allocate resources.
The findings will guide discussions at the First Africa Health Data Forum, which runs until 12 November. Governments and development partners will examine shared and national challenges, exchange practical approaches and consider coordinated investment.
The programme will also explore how digital health tools, artificial intelligence and other innovations could improve information systems and help services respond to people’s needs.