DHIS2 News: Norwegian program traces possible virus carriers
A summary of the news article “Norsk program sporer mulige bærere av skrekkviruset” published in Dagbladet, 05 February 2020
Just weeks into the global Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, DHIS2 was featured in an article in Dagbladet–one of Norway’s largest newspapers–on Sri Lanka’s innovative use of technology in tracking the spread of Covid-19. In particular, the article highlighted how Sri Lanka’s health authorities, with the support of HISP Sri Lanka, were able to build upon their existing DHIS2 system to rapidly configure a system for COVID-19 surveillance.
Professor Kristin Braa of the Health Information Systems Programme (HISP) at the University of Oslo (UiO) was interviewed for this article, and explained how the DHIS2 software contributed to Sri Lanka’s ability to trace people who entered the country and who could potentially be carrying the virus. In the article, Professor Braa explained the history of DHIS2 as an open-source software project, growing from an initial effort to create a unified health data system in South Africa to become the largest Health Management Information System in the world.
The article also explains the long terms positive effects of UiO’s capacity-building efforts, for example through the UiO PhD program that focuses on strengthening health systems. In the case of Sri Lanka, former UiO PhD students worked together with local authorities in Sri Lanka to further modify the DHIS2 platform to meet their local needs.
Read about Sri Lanka’s innovative work using DHIS2 to combat COVID-19 on our COVID Success Stories page.
Read the full article (in Norwegian) on Dagbladet’s website.
