Activities
Health information activities may vary according to the country specific needs. It may include provision of technical and financial support in the development of country HIS plans and strategies, HIS tools, and information materials. HIS forum meetings, short courses, trainings and workshops were also conducted in recent years.
Activities may be grouped into four areas: (1) strengthening the country health information systems; (2) capacity building of the countries; (3) improving data collection, quality and analysis; and (4) increasing the visibility and access to health information. Following is a detailed list of some activities done in 2010-2011:
Strengthening country health information systems
- The Asia Pacific HIS Country Ownership and Leadership Forum (www.hisforum.org) was held to focus on multi-sectoral engagement, country-led processes, and prioritizing HIS implementation activities which led to a community of HIS and eHealth experts making recommendations for forming a new Asia eHealth Information Network (AeHIN) to support peer learning and technical assistance which is currently underway
- Supported initial activities of the Pacific Health Information Network (PHIN) (www.phinnetwork.org) that promote a peer-to-peer network of HIS professionals in Pacific Island countries to improve national HIS and launched the 2012-2017 strategic plan, in collaboration with development partners
- Developed Fiji’s national health information strategies. Fiji became the first developing country in the region to implement policies and procedures on data ownership with the consideration of legal and ethical issues, data management and protection as to utilization and sharing; as well as in handling health research data
Capacity building of countries
- Conducted training workshops on HIS standards/interoperability, country ownership and leadership, data quality and user tools were organized with support from HQ and other partners
- Administered a health information systems short course, in collaboration with the University of Queensland HIS Knowledge Hub, to train mid-level managers and district health officers on good practices, standards, and tools for improving health data quality, analysis, use, and management
- National HIS performance indicators were developed for monitoring improvements in quality and use of health information sub-regionally for the Pacific and strengthened nationally in Cambodia, Fiji, Lao PDR, and the Philippines
- Revisited HIS strategic plan of Lao PDR and aligned it with the national health plan
Improving data collection, quality and analysis
- Supported the national health system reform review of China and Cambodia, as well as the mid-term reviews of their national health system development plan
- Conducted jointly with different partners a training workshop in Viet Nam on better use of standards to promote interoperability of HIS including developing database and repository at national and sub-national levels. Representatives from Viet Nam, Lao PDR, China, Cambodia, and the Philippines participated in the workshop
- Provided technical assistance in the development of data standards, unique identification mechanisms for patients and enhancing the interoperability of existing systems in the Philippines
- Collaborated with ESCAP and University of Queensland of Australia to apply the tool to conduct rapid assessment on civil registration and vital statistics. Countries Ain the Region such as Cambodia, Viet Nam, Mongolia, Lao PDR, Fiji, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands have completed the assessment
Increasing the visibility and access to health information
- Initiated the Health Information and Intelligence Platform (HIIP) to take country- and regional-level data and package them in a form that policy-makers, researchers and the public can compare, visualize and manipulate. Although the platform is being developed by the WHO Western Pacific Region Office, its focus is to help countries enhance their own health information systems and take strategic actions to improve nationally reported health statistics
- Produced information materials such as the analysis report and leaflet on health-related MDG progress which was disseminated and shared to all Member States in the Region to help countries to monitor their MDG progress. Other materials include the Western Pacific Country Health Information Profiles 2010 and 2011 Revisions were produced
- Provided technical support in the development of national web-based repository, and improve national civil registration and vital statistics in different countries in WPR
- Supported the development of information materials such as annual health statistics yearbook