We enhance data use, leverage big data from our programs and advocate for responsible and ethical data governance to fully realize the potential of data to strengthen health systems, improve decision-making and ultimately save lives.
The potential of data is underutilized in many low- and middle-income countries, even as it is transforming lives in many high-income countries at an unprecedented scale. In LMICs, there is a need to upskill health system decision-makers in data analysis to be able to make better informed decisions around resource allocation, budgeting and performance management to maximize the use of resources. At the same time, there is an urgent need for strong and equitable data governance structures to mitigate the risks and protect clients.
At a global level we advocate for the ethical, inclusive and impactful use of data as a global good, and support our national government partners to create data governance frameworks. We also develop dashboards based on digital program data and train partners to analyze as well as use the data for programmatic decision-making and use the data from our programs to develop predictive algorithms that can identify individuals and communities at risk to create tailored health pathways and improve the accuracy and effectiveness of interventions.
Predictive Analytics in Zanzibar
In partnership with the Belgian Development Agency Enabel in Zanzibar, we have used machine learning and national digital community health program data to develop an algorithm to predict a pregnant woman’s risk of stillbirth upon their registration into the program. For mothers at risk, the app prompts the Community Health Workers to provide tailored care to support the woman to deliver in a health facility and decrease risk of a stillbirth. This program has provided valuable learnings to inform how we can further personalize care across our work, find out more here.
