The countries of the Region of the Americas have made substantial progress in improving information systems for health (IS4H). However, they still face major challenges in ensuring reliable, secure, and timely data in the necessary format to inform decision-making, policy development, monitoring and evaluation, and the production of intelligence for action in health. At the same time, emerging technologies and the potential offered by the information society, such as big data, may offer benefits to public health never before seen in human history.
The Plan of Action contains strategic lines of action and tools to support implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This document presents the Plan of Action for Strengthening Information Systems for Health 2019-2023, which contains strategic lines of action and tools to support implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its purpose, moreover, is to help health institutions in the Member States to advance toward meeting the targets of the Sustainable Health Agenda for the Americas 2018-2030 (3), especially targets 6.1 and 6.2, in alignment with other government initiatives such as open government and e-government.
The goal of this plan of action is to strengthen the activities of Member States aimed at upgrading health systems through the use of interconnected and interoperable information systems. It will also help the Member States introduce information and communication technologies and improve information exchange and the management of structured and unstructured data 3 for the benefit of public health.
Please note that the document linked in this article is not yet in its final form, since it will first be discussed in the 164th Session of PAHO's Executive Committee (24-28 June 2019), then presented at the 57th Directing Council, from 30 September to 4 October 2019 in Washington, D.C.