Call for papers for DHIS2-themed issue of SSM – Health Systems
This special issue, titled “Building Stronger National Health Information Systems: Leveraging DHIS2 for Health Systems Performance, Policy and Research” will showcase research on, for, and with DHIS2.
The HISP Centre at the University of Oslo (HISP UiO) is pleased to announce a call for papers for a special issue of the open-access journal SSM – Health Systems, “Building Stronger National Health Information Systems: Leveraging DHIS2 for Health Systems Performance, Policy and Research.”
Health information systems (HIS) are foundational to manage health systems and improve medical knowledge and practice. Despite the widespread adoption and documented impact on health data quality and availability by new digital interventions, evidence suggests that HIS remain underutilized by health system planners for routine decision-making, by policymakers for evidence-based decisions, and by researchers for generating insights.
This gap between data availability and use has been noted also for DHIS2, a digital platform forming the core HIS for over 80 countries, serving as the primary platform for monitoring health services for more than 2 billion people globally. As data and digital solutions become increasingly critical for health systems to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), DHIS2’s role in aggregating routine health data—from facility-level service statistics to disease surveillance—offers countless opportunities to inform health system performance, policy, and research. But it also underscores the persistent health system challenge of translating information into improved health outcomes.
Aims and Scope: This special issue seeks to foster interdisciplinary dialogue on innovation and DHIS2-enabled health systems. We invite contributions “on, for, or with DHIS2” that address:
- Studies “on” DHIS2: Any study aimed at investigating any of the features of DHIS2 systems or data for further use in HIS
- Studies “for” DHIS2: Any study aimed understanding how to address limitations or otherwise strengthen the use of DHIS2 in HIS
- Studies “with” DHIS: Studies that use DHIS2 to better understand the performance of HIS or health systems
We encourage submissions from interdisciplinary teams and practitioners, particularly from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), to reflect diverse perspectives. Submissions may employ qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods, provided they contribute novel insights to health systems and health information systems research.
SSM – Health Systems is an open access journal, and there are no costs related to this issue, either for authors or for readers.
The submission deadline is 31 August 2025. Learn more and submit your work on the call for papers page.
If you have questions or comments about this call for papers, you can share your thoughts on the DHIS2 Community of Practice. The HISP UiO team looks forward to reading submissions from the global DHIS2 community.
