The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said it will assist Kenya in developing a health observatory in the next two years.

WHO Kenya Focal Point for Health Observatory Leonard Cosmas told Xinhua in Nairobi that currently funds are being mobilized in order to finance the establishment of the National Health Observatory.

"We hope to have a prototype in place by the end of the year and a fully operational health observatory in two years," Cosmas said on the sidelines of the National Workshop on Data for Sustainable Development.

A health observatory is a web based platform that contains health related information that assists in decision making.

It helps a country monitor health trends, respond to disease outbreaks in a timely manner as well as achieve internationally agreed health targets.

Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Cameroon are also currently establishing health observatories. The WHO established the Global Health Observatory in 2010 and the Africa Health Observatory one year later.

Cosmas said discussions are currently on going with the Kenya government on modalities of implementation process. "We are identifying the components that will be included on the online platform," he added.

Kenya currently has a lot of information on health data but they are not available in one platform.

Cosmas said that once in place the health observatory will serve as a platform for better synergy and harmonization of researchers, academics, public and private sector actors in the health sector.

He noted that health observatories are meant to strengthen existing health information systems and not replace them. Endit

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)