Many governments have a trove of health data available to them—from census to hospital records. Often these data remain unused, despite its potential to guide critical policy or investment decisions. Vital Strategies’ Data Impact program works in 18 countries on more than 60 projects, as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative. Focused on data use, the initiative collaborates with governments to expand the use of data to enhance public health policymaking.
Public health policymaking includes prioritizing health issues and identifying populations in need; allocating financial and human resources; enacting laws and regulations; and establishing programs and services.
Photo credit: Zoraida Ghiglino
Why It Matters
- 70% of deaths are caused by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), while only 30% of government health funding in low- and middle-income countries is spent on them.
Our Results
- 4,366 ministry of health staff and others have received training on using data for public health practice.
- 69 policy briefs have been presented to decision-makers.
Areas of Technical Assistance
Customized to the needs of the governments with which we partner, our technical assistance focuses on three fundamental areas:
People
Enhancing technical staff expertise in using data to identify public health issues and design solutions. As of 2019, the program has trained nearly 4,366 people from 16 low- and middle-income countries.
Processes
Strengthening practices, structures and policies to institutionalize widespread, high-quality data use. By building robust systems to monitor public health data, governments can use insights from those data to drive action to improve people’s health and lives.
Products
Creating clear and compelling reporting of health data to enhance understanding of critical public health issues. Public health bulletins, data reports and digital data solutions—these are the means by which governments share public health data, alert stakeholders to health threats and communicate public health priorities.
For more information visit https://www.d4hdataimpact.org.
Our Partners
- CDC Foundation
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- University of Melbourne
- World Health Organization
- Global Health Advocacy Incubator
Our Funders
Contact
About the Data for Health Initiative
The Initiative, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Government of Australia, is providing technical assistance to 18 low- and middle-income countries worldwide to improve public health data systems. The Data Impact Program, focusing on data use, is one of three Initiative components; the other two components focus on data collection and quality: improving civil registration and vital statistics systems and developing new tools for noncommunicable disease risk factor surveillance. Collaborating institutions in the Initiative are: Vital Strategies, CDC Foundation, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Global Health Advocacy Incubator, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of Melbourne, and the World Health Organization.