ABSTRACT
A health information system (HIS) is an “integrated effort to collect, process, report and use health information and knowledge to influence policy-making, programme action and research”. 1 HIS is one of the essential building blocks of a health system, enabling decision-makers at all levels of the health system to identify health challenges and make optimal allocation of scarce resources to achieve health improvements. 2 A robust HIS that generates reliable, timely, and high-quality data is among several factors that enable policy makers to make evidence-based decisions. Since the 1990s, the role of HIS in improving health outcomes has gained prominence. In particular, countries are implementing interventions to strengthen HIS by addressing problems in HIS completeness, accuracy, and timeliness. These efforts have become inevitable within the context of the global agenda for sustainable development, calling for countries to generate better data from multiple sources to support improvements in health-care service delivery. 3
