In Africa, digital technologies are rapidly changing the way health care is provided, monitored, and evaluated. Ethiopia’s experience with the national web-based health information management platform, District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2), shows how data systems can be a game changer in advancing improved maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes—even in settings with few medical resources.
A recently-published study in Archives of Public Health led by our team, with financial and technical support from the World Health Organization’s Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (Alliance), demonstrates that DHIS2 has made a significant contribution to the improvement of maternal and child health services in Ethiopia. Since the system was introduced, the study shows improvements, many dramatic, across a range of maternal and child health markers, from the rate of births in medical facilities to vaccinations to the use of family planning services.