Nairobi — Researchers from the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust in Kilifi and the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp have called for the urgent creation and maintenance of open, regularly updated health facility databases to support better healthcare delivery across Africa.
The researchers say that many African countries still lack centralised, accessible listings of their health facilities, undermining efforts to allocate resources, coordinate emergency responses, and manage disease outbreaks.
Led by Dr. Peter Macharia and Dr. Emelda Okiro, the research highlights how up-to-date databases — which include key information such as facility type, location, services offered, and operational status — are essential for governments, NGOs, and responders, especially in times of crisis.
“This list should be open to stakeholders, including government agencies, development partners, and researchers,” the research states. “Health facility lists must be shared through a governance framework that balances data sharing with protections for data subjects and creators.”
While some countries, like Kenya and Malawi, provide partial access through web portals, others either do not have such lists or require special permission to access them. The absence of such data was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed deep vulnerabilities in healthcare coordination.
A 2023 nationwide health facility census in Kenya was cited as a step in the right direction. However, the researchers noted that many other countries, including those with fragile health systems, remain without any formal registry.
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“Detailed maps of healthcare resources enable quicker emergency responses by pinpointing facilities equipped for specific crises,” the report noted. “Disease surveillance systems depend on continuously collecting data from healthcare facilities.”
The study also points to the success of countries like Mali and Sierra Leone, where structured facility databases have improved healthcare delivery in underserved regions.
The authors are urging political leaders to invest in digital infrastructure, open data policies, and institutional cooperation. “Political and financial commitment from governments is essential. Creating and maintaining a proper list requires significant investment,” the research concluded.
They argue that building a continent-wide framework for health facility data will not only improve emergency preparedness but also strengthen equity in healthcare access and disease surveillance systems across borders.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
