Workshop in Developing Integrated National Health Information Systems
Summary
The Workshop on Developing Integrated National Health Information Systems was held in Manila, the Philippines from 6 to 8 September 2006. The objectives of the workshop were:(1) to review the content and flow of data collected by different programme-specific information systems; and(2) to agree on common platforms to integrate programme-specific information, for sharing and use.Thirty participants from Cambodia, China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, the Philippines and Viet Nam, participated in the workshop. In addition, three resource persons from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), the Global Alliance for Vaccine Immunization (GAVI), and the Health Metrics Network (HMN) also participated.Outputs of the workshop identified HIS functional areas for integration and issues that countries faced. Country action plans indicated high priority given to integration of data collection and sharing. Countries identified a number of areas for opportunity to integrate HIS.As a first step to the integration process, it was agreed that it is important for countries to identify on their own priorities, obtain commitment to initiate integration, plan for such activities (using the NHIS strategic plans to be developed) and pursue it given the resources and opportunities currently available.