Noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. DHIS2 provides a flexible, integrated platform to support countries in tracking, managing, and responding to NCDs—from routine facility reporting to advanced patient registries, screening programs, and climate-linked risk systems.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory conditions, and mental health disorders, account for approximately 74% of all deaths globally, with the majority occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Addressing this burden requires health systems that can collect and use data consistently, monitor populations over time, and act on evidence at every level, from the community clinic to the national Ministry of Health.
DHIS2 is already deployed as the national health information platform in more than 75 countries, many of which face a growing NCD burden alongside persistent infectious disease challenges. In many of these countries, NCD data is being collected in DHIS2 as part of routine health reporting, providing a foundation that programs can build on without starting from scratch.
Whether you are establishing a national hypertension registry, expanding a cancer surveillance system, linking climate data to NCD outcomes, or looking to better understand comorbidities across disease programs, DHIS2 offers the tools and flexibility to support your goals.
Are you looking to implement or expand a DHIS2-based NCD program? The HISP network has deep experience supporting countries with NCD information system design, implementation, and scale-up. Contact us to discuss how we can support your work.
DHIS2 offers a comprehensive set of tools to support NCD programs at every stage of implementation—from routine facility reporting to advanced patient registries, risk stratification, and cross-sector analytics.
Many countries already collect NCD-related data in DHIS2 as part of routine health management information system (HMIS) reporting. This existing data—covering diagnoses, service utilization, medicines and service availability, and health worker capacity—can be used immediately for program monitoring and targeted interventions, without additional system investment.
For programs requiring individual-level data, DHIS2 Tracker supports the enrollment and longitudinal follow-up of NCD patients across conditions including hypertension, diabetes, cancer, mental health, and rehabilitation. Patient management trackers support clinical data capture, appointment scheduling, treatment follow-up, and outcome recording—all within the same platform used for routine HMIS reporting, enabling seamless triangulation of patient-level and population-level data.
DHIS2 supports structured screening programs for NCDs, including blood pressure measurement, blood glucose testing, and cancer screening. Risk scoring algorithms can be integrated into DHIS2 Tracker to flag high-risk patients and prioritize follow-up at the primary health care level, enabling a more proactive approach to NCD prevention and care.
One of the most powerful features of DHIS2 for NCD programs is the ability to combine NCD data with data from other health programs within the same platform. Health authorities can analyze comorbidities—for example, comparing NCD burden with HIV, tuberculosis (TB), malnutrition, or malaria program data—and generate a more complete picture of population health.
Climate change is an important driver of NCD incidence and severity. Extreme heat, poor air quality, flooding, and other climate-related events affect cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions, and mental health outcomes, particularly in vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
DHIS2 is designed for interoperability and supports international standards relevant to NCD programs, enabling countries to maintain internationally comparable data within their national information systems.
While the features above are broadly applicable, DHIS2 has been adapted to support NCD programs across a wide range of conditions and contexts. Chronic NCDs, including hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease, are the primary focus, with dedicated resources, toolkits, and country implementation experience available. DHIS2’s flexible platform also supports a growing number of emerging NCD use cases, including mental health, injury surveillance, and vision and hearing programs.
Chronic NCDs make up the majority of DHIS2’s NCD work, and are often the greatest share of country NCD burden. Routine HMIS data already present in DHIS2 systems provides a starting point for targeted interventions and program monitoring. From there, countries can expand into patient-level tracking, registries, risk scoring, and longitudinal follow-up, using tools that integrate seamlessly into existing national platforms.
The following areas have dedicated resources, toolkits, and country implementation experience.
DHIS2’s flexible data model supports a wide variety of NCD use cases beyond the primary areas above. In several countries, programs are already using DHIS2 to address these needs; in others, there is growing interest and early development work underway.
DHIS2 has been used to support vision and hearing screening programs, including tools developed as part of the DHIS2 Health Data Toolkit.
DHIS2 supports injury surveillance and rehabilitation tracking, including occupational health use cases and patient intake workflows in emergency and trauma settings.
Some acute conditions, such as acute asthma attacks, intersect with both NCD and communicable disease programs. DHIS2’s integrated platform allows these to be monitored alongside routine NCD reporting.
DHIS2 is designed for interoperability and supports a range of international standards relevant to NCD programs.
DHIS2 can be integrated with laboratory information management systems (LIMS) to automatically link lab results — such as HbA1c, lipid panels, or pathology reports — to patient records in Tracker.
DHIS2 integrates with CanReg5, the WHO tool for cancer registry data management, enabling countries to maintain internationally comparable cancer incidence data within their national information systems.
DHIS2 supports the use of International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD)-10 and ICD-11 coding standards for morbidity and cause-of-death reporting.
The DHIS2 cause-of-death module supports structured coding and reporting of mortality data, enabling NCD programs to monitor disease-specific mortality and track progress toward national and global targets.
Read about how countries are using DHIS2 to strengthen NCD programs and improve health outcomes.
You can also contact a member of the HISP network in your region for support on national or subnational NCD information system projects. If you are a funder or program manager looking to explore what DHIS2 can offer for your NCD initiative, we welcome you to reach out.
The DHIS2 Community of Practice (CoP) is the primary forum for DHIS2 discussion and peer support. Join NCD practitioners and implementers from around the world to share use cases, ask questions, and stay current on emerging tools and approaches.
DHIS2’s work in noncommunicable diseases is developed in close collaboration with global health partners, funders, and implementing organizations.
World Diabetes Foundation (WDF): WDF has supported the development and implementation of DHIS2-based diabetes management and monitoring tools in several countries, helping to build national capacity for data-driven diabetes care.
Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL): RTSL has partnered with DHIS2 to develop and scale validated hypertension and cardiovascular disease patient management tools across multiple countries, with a focus on high-burden settings.
WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC): DHIS2 collaborates with WHO IARC on cancer registry standards and CanReg5 integration to support internationally comparable cancer surveillance in LMICs.
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) — Hearts in the Americas: DHIS2 supports the PAHO Hearts in the Americas initiative, which works to reduce cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality across Latin America and the Caribbean through strengthened health information and patient management systems.
Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA): DHIS2 works with CARPHA to strengthen NCD surveillance and data systems across the Caribbean region.
