Better data for better health in Sierra Leone
October 2009
Sierra Leone's district health information system (DHIS) captures data from hundreds of community health centres across the country. The system, developed with the support of the Health Metrics Network, is designed to bring information together to permit analysis and comparison of results. Collected at village and community levels, data are being compiled and analysed at the district level in the computer-based DHIS before being transmitted to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in the capital, Freetown.
In this example, data captured during routine interventions such as an immunization campaign at the Wellington Community Health Centre in the Western District of Sierra Leone are then available to the district health officials in a timely fashion. These data are analysed and are the basis for deciding what public health programmes are needed in the district.
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