Africa Health Data Space

Africa Health Data Space is based on health data curated as Findable,
Accessible (under well-defined conditions), Interoperable and Re-usable
(FAIR) that is machine-actionable, and creates a space for strong high quality
and ethical data for analytics
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What is AHDS

Data can reside in the health facility where the data is produced (just as the patient records do), or held under control of the facility;

Data is useable for analytics within the health facility and can contribute to quality health services at point of care;

Data can be visited for deidentified computational analytics across health facilities and across borders through algorithmic data visiting;

The creation of an inclusive data pipeline across larger and smaller areas and facilities in connected and remote areas will increase representativity of the data, and remove poverty-based bias and assist in pandemic preparedness;

The creation of interoperable health data will increase the relevance of digital health innovations and assist in the horizontal integration of these innovations.

What do people say about AHDS

“For instance, the principles underlying research at the Kampala International University in Uganda, centre around ‘collaboration within context’, bolstering its lead in the multi-country Virus Outbreak Data Network (VODAN) to manage African COVID-19 pandemic data within the precepts of data sovereignty.- UNESCO (2021)
“VODAN Africa -which aims to unleash the full potential of health data – currently deployed in 90 healthcare facilities across 8 African countries.” “According to Africa CDC’s Jean Philbert NSENGIMANA (Phil) , government’s biggest responsibility is to now create an enabling environment for public-private partnerships in digital health, to foster meaningful collaboration without hindering innovation. – DCCC (2023)
“As we look to the future, let us be guided by the principles of data sovereignty and the immense value of our data. Let us embrace the opportunities that FAIR Data and the Africa Health Data Space offer. Let us support the Africa University Network on FAIR Open Science as it builds the foundations of a new era of academic diplomacy in Africa.” – Hon. Fortune Charumbira, President of the Pan-African Parliament (2022)
“Therefore, it is recommended to set up close collaboration between the development of an Africa Health Data Space and the EHDS to make rapid progress towards respectful partnerships based on the FAIR data principles. – EPC (2024)

History of Africa Health Data Space

In order to establish the Africa Health Data Space, VODAN-A started in March 2020 and developed a Proof of Concept, which was successfully carried out in the same year.
In the subsequent period, the specification and requirements were established on the basis of which an architecture for a Minimum Viable Product was established.
African engineers worked with stakeholders of the health community to develop an architecture that was flexible and trustworthy.

A policy for trusted data access permission was also developed. This included data visiting of health facilities located in different jurisdictions. We then narrowed down on fewer health facilities, with focus on quality AI ready data. In December 2023 the architecture generated a data space inclusive of 20.000 digital patient records from 12 facilities in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Nigeria, in secure stores in each facility.
In 2024, VODAN will be realising a quality data space inclusive of 16 health facilities in seven countries, focusing on data of Mother-Child Health and general surveillance of Outpatients.