What is it about?
We compared data from a digital clinical tool and Nigeria's routine health information system. Large differences in reported childhood diseases highlight the need for better integration, harmonised reporting, and stronger data quality to support healthcare planning and disease surveillance.
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Why is it important?
This is one of the first studies to compare, over five years and at scale, data generated by a digital tool with a routine health information system in a low-resource setting. Rather than evaluating clinical effectiveness, it addresses the overlooked challenge of how digital health interventions interact with national surveillance systems. The findings provide practical lessons for governments and partners investing in digital health and health system strengthening.
Perspectives
Working on this study changed the way I think about digital health. I learned that even well-designed technologies can create new challenges if they are not fully integrated into existing health systems. My hope is that these findings will help future digital health projects place as much emphasis on data integration and local ownership as on technological innovation itself
Andrea Bernasconi
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Digital innovations and health information systems: Lessons learned from implementing ALMANACH in Nigeria, PLOS Digital Health, June 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0001362.
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