The African Union established the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in January 2017 with a mandate to strengthen Africa's public health institutions so they can detect and respond quickly to disease threats, and with an explicit statutory function of harmonising disease control policies and surveillance systems across Member States. The Africa CDC Health Information Exchange Task Force was convened to give that mandate technical substance in the digital domain.

The problem
Successive World Health Assembly resolutions on eHealth (WHA58.28, 2005), on eHealth standardization and interoperability (WHA66.24, 2013), and on digital health (WHA71.7, 2018) recognise interoperable digital systems as central to achieving the sustainable development goals. Across Africa, countries are implementing a wide range of electronic systems that collect health data, but the quality and sharing of that data remain inadequate, and almost all Member States lack national information standards to guide how systems are developed and deployed.
The consequences are concrete. Many information systems operate independently of one another. Information is stored in different locations, managed by different authorities and captured in different electronic formats, making it difficult to harmonise and exchange data across countries for continental surveillance, disease control and emergency response. Donors, partners and Member States have invested heavily in these systems yet still lack a "big picture" view of all health-relevant data, or a means of integrating diverse sources into a comprehensive understanding of national health goals.
The interoperability challenge is not confined to human and animal health. It extends to combining health-related risks and events with data from other sectors bearing on the continent's wellbeing and sustainable development security, climate and biodiversity among them.

The response

With health information systems proliferating across Africa, and mobile and wireless deployments growing especially fast, there is a pressing need for exchange standards that Member States can adopt in common. As the technical body mandated by the AU to advise and support Member States, Africa CDC established the Task Force to provide expertise and guidance in developing the policies and standards needed for interoperable health information systems across African countries including support for exchange between the human and animal health sectors and other relevant sectors.

How it works

The Task Force is composed of representatives from Africa CDC, its HISP partners, and selected health information exchange subject matter experts from Africa and abroad some of whom contributed to earlier consultations defining Africa CDC's health information systems strategy. The Task Force reports to the Africa CDC team leading health information system activity, and works through both virtual and in-person meetings.

Members provide expert input to the development of exchange standards, participate in regular technical discussion, work with AU Member States as needed, and specify the framework, standards and shared services required to implement secure, scalable and flexible health data exchange producing draft operations frameworks, architectures and messaging standards.

CDHI's role

The Center for Digital Health and Implementation Science at the University of Gondar served as a member of the Africa CDC Health Information Exchange Task Force. As a Task Force member, the Center contributed expert input

to the development of continental health information exchange standards;
participated in the regular technical discussions through which the Task Force pursued its objectives;
worked in collaboration with African Union Member States where required; and
helped specify the framework, standards and shared services needed to implement secure, scalable and flexible health data exchange including draft operations frameworks, architectures and messaging standards.

The output

Health Information Exchange Standards and Policy covering governance, regulatory strengthening, surveillance reporting, system architecture, messaging standards selection, cloud-based shared services, and privacy and security
Endorsed by AU Member States in Nairobi, 2023
Published in five languages on the African Union website

The uptake

More than 10 countries have assessed their current position and begun implementation
National leaders are sharing adoption experiences across the continent
Africa CDC has launched an HIE Maturity Assessment Tool to help countries track progress and prioritise interventions

Africa CDC Health Information Exchange Task Force

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