HISP UiO receives $6.45M award for DHIS2 stabilization & innovation

The HISP Centre at the University of Oslo (HISP UiO) has been awarded a three-year, $6.45 million (USD) grant from the Gates Foundation for the ongoing development and maintenance of the DHIS2 platform.

This grant directly supports HISP UiO’s mission of strengthening country-owned health data systems and improving the use of routine data for decision-making by helping us continue to provide a robust and innovative open-source platform that ministries of health in low- and middle income countries can use and adapt to meet their needs. 

As the world’s largest health management information system, used at national scale in more than 75 countries, DHIS2 already supports monitoring, evaluation, budgeting, and planning across a large range of public health programs, from routine immunization and maternal healthcare to disease surveillance and outbreak response. 

Each of these national DHIS2 systems depend on the core DHIS2 platform. While DHIS2 is published by HISP UiO as an open-source, license-free global public good, its continued quality, security, and interoperability depend on sustained core stewardship. The new grant supports HISP UiO to maintain the core DHIS2 platform, including security patches, bug fixes, performance improvements, release management, interoperability standards, supporting resources, and technical coordination across the HISP network. 

This direct grant to HISP UiO is especially important in the wake of global reductions in official development assistance and funding for global health, which have historically been a significant source of funding for DHIS2. Throughout the grant period, HISP UiO will also explore pathways to DHIS2 sustainability and broader community engagement to reduce the platform’s dependence on this kind of global funding and increase platform ownership by stakeholders in the Global South.

Beyond maintaining DHIS2 as it is, HISP UiO will also embark on a structured innovation agenda to help shape the DHIS2 platform’s next phase of development in areas such as interoperability, data quality and use, disease modeling, digitizing primary healthcare at the last mile, and enabling AI-powered DHIS2 innovations. This will help HISP UiO continue to evolve DHIS2 to meet emerging needs and challenges.

“We’re very grateful to the Gates Foundation for this grant,” said Professor Kristin Braa, Director of HISP UiO. “It’s a counterweight to a global funding trend that has put DHIS2 at risk. It’s very encouraging that Gates sees the value and importance of funding the core platform so that countries around the world can continue to use and build on the information systems they already have in place—now and for years to come.”

Learn more about the partners and investors supporting HISP UiO and DHIS2: https://dhis2.org/partners/