DHIS2 Maturity Profile

The maturity profile is a tool to understand how DHIS2 is implemented in a country and to support planning next steps and investments for solid and sustainable DHIS2 systems

Overview of the DHIS2 maturity profile

The DHIS2 maturity profile is a tool used to assess the maturity of a DHIS2 implementation in a country by evaluating different domains and identifying those that require strengthening. The tool assesses the status of implementation of each specific program using DHIS2 to create an overall country profile, promoting an integrated approach to health information systems (HIS). It also highlights the importance of a strong foundation — including in non-technical aspects such as local human capacity, routine tools and infrastructure, leadership and standard operating procedures, etc. — to achieve maturity in any programmatic area.

Ministries of Health in many countries have indicated that they have used the results of this process to identify areas that need improvement, understand what is required to build sustainable systems, and prioritize activities. Global investment partners have also found this tool useful in helping them coordinate efforts to strengthen national DHIS2 systems in several countries, including investing in and planning for the foundational aspects that underpin these systems.

Explore the DHIS2 maturity profile tool in English, French and Portuguese

Objectives and outcomes

The DHIS2 maturity profile supports countries to:

Measure and understand if the country is progressing on health information system strengthening, beyond summarizing the activities performed
Encourage investments in core DHIS2 capacity (i.e., foundational areas) that contributes to a sustainable HIS, supporting health program performance
Align across investments/donor interventions
Assist in planning DHIS2 implementation and strengthening activities
Identify areas in need of more in-depth evaluation and monitoring

Country-level stakeholders are the owners of the DHIS2 maturity profile process, and the results of the profile are ultimately for their use, to help facilitate strong and sustainable locally owned systems. Another key benefit of the profile is that it also facilitates alignment between international and regional funding partners so that they can better coordinate their investments in national systems.

Read what some of our key partners have to say about the DHIS2 maturity profile:

“Having a systematic, robust and quantifiable measurement of where country systems are in terms of development and maintenance of digital health systems enables us to prioritize and undertake strategic and effective investments. The DHIS2 maturity profile is a systematic way to establish this baseline and monitor country progress. It raises the visibility of foundational areas like governance and system maintenance that might otherwise be under-prioritized. It also helps align investments across partners.”

Nathalie Zorzi
Senior Manager, Monitoring Evaluation & Country Analysis Team
Program Monitoring Department
The Global Fund

“The maturity profile is important for Norad to help inform our support for DHIS2 and country-led health systems strengthening. But first and foremost, it needs to be valuable for countries themselves. Properly used, it supports local ownership and governance of DHIS2 systems by empowering local stakeholders to see what is going well and where the challenges are, and informing their plans for further development. It can also be used by countries in their dialog with international partners.”

Paul R. Fife
Leader, Department for Human Development
Section for Global Health
The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad)

“The GFF appreciates the value of the DHIS2 Maturity Profile in guiding countries towards DHIS2 and HMIS investments that are more appropriate to local DHIS2 needs, capacity and infrastructure. In Guinea, for example, the DHIS2 Maturity Profile has helped guide and align new donor investments in HMIS, and is informing the development of the MOH’s new national strategic plan for the health management information system.”

Peter Hansen
Results Workstream Lead
Global Financing Facility (GFF) / World Bank

Maturity assessment process

The process of preparing a national maturity profile for existing DHIS2 systems should be carried out once the system is established (for example one year after initial implementation), and can be revisited periodically, such as every two years or as needed. Individual elements of the profile can also be revisited in isolation. In countries that are supported by the HISP network, the local HISP group will typically have a role in helping to coordinate the process. However, the maturity profile is open for any group to use.

The process begins with the country answering a set of questions on topics covering the foundational aspects of a DHIS2 implementation, such as DHIS2 capacity, training, infrastructure, facility profile, and leadership and governance. There are also questions related to programs using DHIS2 covering both aggregate and tracker systems, to allow for a more nuanced understanding of how DHIS2 is used per program across a given country. Based on a country’s priorities with DHIS2, the profile can be used to inform recommended activities and next steps to strengthen DHIS2 systems.

Read the DHIS2 maturity profile assessment instructions

How to view current country maturity profile reports

Around 40 countries have already completed DHIS2 maturity profiles — a list of countries is available here. Reports that are already completed and approved are available for partners that are interested in strengthening national DHIS2 systems. If you are interested in reading a report from a specific country, contact us at: maturity-profile@dhis2.org

Resources and guidance

The following resources are available to assist in conducting maturity profile assessments and using completed reports to inform planning and investment in DHIS2 systems: