DHIS2 for Climate & Health Use Cases and Features

DHIS2 supports the incorporation of climate, weather, and environmental data into programs in the health sector and beyond, as well as integration with specialized systems. Through existing features and functionality in development, we aim to facilitate spatial and temporal analysis of environmental factors in a variety of programs and use cases

Overview: Enhancing DHIS2 for Climate & Health

The DHIS2 platform is already able to collect and import data of various types for combined analysis. Through our new Climate & Health project, we aim to enhance and expand the functionalities of DHIS2 to support a range of use cases in this domain. On this page, we provide examples of some Climate & Health use cases that we plan to explore during the initial phases of our Wellcome-funded research project. However, this list is not exhaustive. We encourage you to contact us if you have additional Climate & Health use cases that DHIS2 could support, including environmental factors beyond weather or climate (ie. air pollution).

At the bottom of the page, we also list some of the core functionalities of DHIS2 that will support these and other C&H use cases. In addition to these existing features, we will work with our expert partners to develop additional supporting functionalities and applications as needed.

Climate-sensitive diseases

This use case builds on existing disease surveillance systems by integrating climate and weather data to improve early warning and response for climate-sensitive infectious diseases (vector, water, and food borne), such as malaria, dengue, diarrhea, zika, etc. Historical and current climate and health data are used to develop predictive models based on relationships between environmental factors and the corresponding likelihood of disease outbreaks in specific geographies, including the spread of diseases to new areas. Outputs from these systems can be used to:

Plan interventions and resource allocation around established seasonal patterns and early warning projections.
Respond to localized early warnings with targeted interventions to maximize effectiveness and reduce cost.
Generate evidence to show the impact of climate change on disease burden, which can be used for national strategic policy and climate change adaptation plans.

Note: The video shown here is an illustrative example of incorporating a weather and climate data set into the DHIS2 Maps application. This functionality is still in development.

Agriculture & Food Security

This use case builds on existing nutrition and agriculture systems to support early warning and response to weather events, changing climate patterns, and seasonal variation that affect crop production and prevalence of malnutrition. Data from these systems can help improve nutrition programmes & food security by helping plan mitigation actions, outreach activities, and resource prioritization.

Support food security and agriculture production programs with better weather and seasonal forecast data to help authorities plan large-scale interventions where they are most urgently needed, and inform local farmers.
Further combined with routine health data on human malnutrition can show the impact of agricultural adaptation measures on human health, and assist in planning nutrition interventions in advance of extreme weather events.

Lead farmers monitor crop development at a plantation in rural Malawi.

Heat & Flooding

This use case incorporates early warning and response systems for heat waves, floods, or other extreme weather evnets into routine and emergency health programs. It builds on existing DHIS2 systems for routine service delivery and can expand DHIS2 systems for new data sources (NCD data, emergency response, etc.). Outputs from these systems can be used to:

Help plan mitigation actions and outreach for vulnerable populations.
Minimize routine service disruption during extreme weather events.
Generate evidence showing the linkages between extreme weather and negative health impacts which can be used for strategic policy development and climate change adaptation plans.

Note: The video shown here is an illustrative example of incorporating updated satellite imagery into the DHIS2 Maps application. This functionality is still in development.

Core DHIS2 functionalities that support climate data integration

The DHIS2 platform provides a number of applications, features, and tools that can facilitate the integration and use of climate data in information systems:

Explore & Import Climate Data Sets

The Climate Data App allows users to explore and import temperature and precipitation data into data elements of their DHIS2 instance. Values are automatically calculated for the organisation units users select. Import daily data that can be aggregated to other periods in DHIS2. The data source is ERA5-Land, which is considered the most accurate and complete global climate dataset available. Users can either explore the data directly in this app, or through the DHIS2 analytics apps after importing. This will also allow for combining climate and health data in the same visualizations and dashboards.

Data Warehouse & Triangulation

A national DHIS2 system can host data from a variety of sources, allowing program managers to carry out and visualize composite analysis between health, climate, and other data sources in one place using customizable dashboards.

Flexible data collection

Data can be entered into DHIS2 via the web interface or on mobile devices, with robust offline support. Data entry forms are flexible and can be locally configured for a variety of data, reporting formats and tempos. Data can also be uploaded in bulk or integrated from other systems. This flexibility provides a large number of options for incorporating climate data into DHIS2.

Maps & GIS

The built-in Maps application in DHIS2 permits the import and use of geospatial datasets via the Google Earth Engine, including satellite data and climate services. These can be combined with programmatic data for geospatial and temporal analysis. Data from DHIS2 can also be exported to GIS programs for more advanced analysis.

Integration

DHIS2’s open and documented API and suite of integration tools facilitates interoperability with external software systems and data sources. Within Climate & Health implementations, this can allow DHIS2 systems to connect to purpose-built climate data systems and external software for complex predictive modeling.

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Extensibility

DHIS2 is designed to allow for extending functionality through the use of custom applications, scripts, and widgets, which can help tailor the system to meet local needs for a C&H use case, as well as serving as a method for developing low-cost local innovations on top of the DHIS2 platform that can be shared with other users.