Health Data innovation

Helping policymakers use data to improve decision-making and resource allocation in health

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Building a resilient and responsive health system that serves everyone requires strategic investments across core health system building blocks. We help decision-makers develop sustainable and locally-owned solutions to pressing health issues through innovative approaches.

We conduct research and implement projects across three key areas in health: managing epidemics and crises, reaching key populations, and financing universal healthcare. We tackle both direct inputs (financing) and outputs (improved health information). We also develop decision-support tools that lower the barriers to entry for domestic policymakers and donors to access and use timely, comprehensive, and disaggregated data to pinpoint at-risk communities and allocate limited resources more effectively.

Our Areas of Work

Managing Epidemics and Crises

With expertise in decision-support tool development, data integration, geographic information systems (GIS), and capacity building, we equip policymakers with the tools and information they need to better respond to epidemics and public health crises. We work with local partners to develop customized and innovative data solutions that address their most pressing public health issues.

Reaching Key Populations

Limited funding for health makes it crucial to ensure that those in need are those who are being reached. We work with policymakers and donors to identify gaps in health programs and reach key populations by designing custom-made tools that use spatial data to find hotspots of vulnerability; harmonizing and integrating health data; and providing training for capacity building.

Financing Universal Healthcare

Building on our track record in collecting rigorous data on financial investments, we advise donors and governments on how to allocate, monitor, and evaluate the effects of health financing from the national to local levels. We help policymakers turn the promises of universal healthcare into results that reach millions in low- and middle-income countries.

Decision-Support Tools in Health

Data Integration

We connect stakeholders to open up siloed health datasets, harmonize and integrate health data, and make data accessible to different user groups.

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Analysis and Targeting

We identify and disaggregate key populations and hotspots, refine important health indicators, and visualize trends for analysis.

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Insights for Action

We empower policymakers and development partners with the data and actionable insights they need to allocate resources effectively.

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Featured Project: Open Geospatial Data to Combat HIV/AIDS in Côte d’Ivoire

The project is designed to enhance the use of health data by the government of Côte d’Ivoire, civil society organizations and local communities.

Overview

In Côte d’Ivoire, a remaining challenge in combatting HIV/AIDS is to more effectively target hotspots and ensure that resources are finding their way to communities with the greatest needs. With funding from PEPFAR, AidData has partnered with Development Gateway, the Ministry of Health, and USAID/Côte d’Ivoire to build the OpenDCH, a hub of collaboration that will enhance the capacity of the government and other stakeholders to use data on HIV/AIDS to identify high risk areas, understand where services are placed, and close gaps in prevention and treatment. Along with two Ivorian fellows embedded at AidData, researchers are analyzing data collected from this project to conduct a geospatial impact evaluation to see which approaches have led to the greatest impact.

December 2017