When deaths go uncounted: WHO flags dangerous blind spots in Africa’s health data

A healthcare worker administers a polio vaccine to a child in Yei, South Sudan.

Quality health data can help authorities to identify emerging threats and take lifesaving action, but a new report reveals critical gaps in Africa’s health information systems.

The study by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) finds that many countries on the continent are facing challenges, including in recording deaths and collecting and interpreting health information.

“ When we do not know why people are dying, which children are missing essential services or where communities face the greatest health risks, we may overlook the very people who need our attention most ,” said Dr. Mohamed Janabi, WHO regional director for Africa.

The report was launched at the First African Health Data Forum which opened in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Tuesday, bringing together health ministers, senior officials and other stakeholders.

Of the 40 countries assessed, fewer than half – 19 – reported that authorities are notified of at least eight in 10 deaths . Just over half, 21, record a cause for at least eight in 10 of the deaths that are registered.

Many countries also struggle to make sense of the data they do collect. Fewer than half (43 per cent) have enough capacity to analyse health data at the level of clinics and hospitals, and only one in four can check its quality there.

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