About Us

The Health Data Collaborative (HDC) is a UHC2030 related initiative that convenes stakeholders from across the health data ecosystem to strengthen countries’ health information systems (HIS) through effective collaboration at all levels, enabling countries to better monitor and attain the health-related sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The HDC was established in March 2016 following the high-level summit on Measurement and Accountability for Results in Health. Guided by the 2015 Roadmap for Health Measurement and Accountability and 5-Point Call to Action, the HDC has continued to grow and evolve over the years.

One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is that HDC remains country-led and country-driven. This includes country participation in HDC governance and decision-making, with national stakeholders driving measurement and accountability mechanisms. It also includes regional networks, institutes, and observatories.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals

The UN Sustainable Development Goals are an ambitious set of targets adopted by world leaders in 2015 that envision a world with zero poverty, shared prosperity and security, and where no one is left behind.

The HDC aims to equip countries to achieve the targets set out in the health-related goals, especially but not exclusively those in Goal 3: Ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all at all ages.

Achieving these targets will require accurate and timely data to understand challenges, identify solutions to stay on track, and keep leaders accountable.

HDC objectives

1. Knowledge brokering
   Leveraging on country, regional, and global technical expertise to produce, disseminate, contextualise and harmonise global public goods aligned with country priorities
2. Capacity building
   Providing a platform for the facilitation of learning and peer-to-peer exchange
3. Advocacy and communications
   Raising awareness for political, technical, and financial investments in health information systems at all levels

Our principles

Our working principles are based on UNSG, WHO and Transform Health data principles:

1. Promote health data as a global public good;
2. Champion country ownership and leadership to interface with national policy, planning and budgeting processes, to ensure data-driven planning and accountability;
3. Build on existing data systems and processes by leveraging technical and financial resources from all sectors and investing in cross-program aspects of data and measurement;
4. Promote use and compliance with the GATHER 18-point guideline to enhance accuracy, transparency and timeliness of data collection;
5. Foster and facilitate data analysis, visualization and use at all levels;
6. Promote increased data transparency, access and use for policy design;
7. Enhance regional and country (especially peer learning) approaches to knowledge management; and
8. Focus on incremental actions with concrete impact