Health data from 20 countries collected in Oslo

Health professionals in more than 20 African and Asian countries are registering information using computer software and a database coordinated by the University of Oslo. This may lead to improved health services for millions of people.

The system is specially designed for registering health information in low- and middle-income countries, and it contains all routine information that is collected within each country’s health care system. This provides an overview of information such as vaccine coverage, AIDS patients undergoing treatment, and outbreak of diseases. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is actively promoting the system in potential user countries.

“The software helps to standardise health information and integrates input from different health services, making it easy to compare information across geographical areas and health services,” explains Professor Sundeep Sahay of the Department of Informatics at the University of Oslo. “This gives the authorities an overview of the population’s health status and of how health services are being administered in different areas. Then they can more easily assess the need for measures and provide the population with better health care.”

The software has been developed through an international network of countries in the South, coordinated by the Department of Informatics at the University of Oslo. WHO and Norad are also participating in this effort.

Read more on Forskningsradet.no (The Research Council of Norway)