Malawi is among the pathfinder countries under the Health Data Collaborative (HDC) and the SDG 3 Global Action Plan—global efforts that bring together governments, international agencies, donors, and academia to improve coordination, strengthen health data systems, and accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

The HDC’s mission is to provide a collaborative platform that aligns technical and financial resources with country-owned strategies for collecting, storing, analyzing, and using data to improve health outcomes—particularly for underserved populations and SDG targets. Malawi co-chairs the HDC alongside South Sudan and Sri Lanka and has actively shared its Health Information Systems (HIS) investments, partner alignment efforts, and use of the HDC country partner mapping tool.

Since the HDC was launched in Malawi in 2017, WHO has strengthened technical support to the Ministry of Health (MoH) across key areas, including Social and Environmental Determinants of Health, Digital Health, Information Systems, Epidemic Intelligence and Reporting, and Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS). WHO has also facilitated coordination of technical resources among line ministries, bilateral and multilateral agencies, and partners such as UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, CDC, GIZ, Last Mile Health, and CHAI.

According to Isaac Dambula, Co-Chair of the HDC and Deputy Director of the Central Monitoring and Evaluation Department in the MoH, the initiative has elevated the importance of data as a public good.

“It has highlighted the need to streamline data across national health information, monitoring, and evaluation systems, health sector plans, and policies. The Health Data Collaborative has also enabled us to learn from other countries on implementing HMIS and data-driven approaches to planning and service delivery. Moving forward, we recommend reviving annual in-person engagements with other HDC countries,” he said.

WHO has played a key role in supporting the development of the National Integrated HIS and Data Management Capacity Building Plan (2025–2026), informed by findings from the Health Information Systems functionality assessment and the SCORE (Survey, Count, Optimize, Review, Enable) assessment.

These assessments show that Malawi has made steady progress, with the national HIS maturity score now at 54.7%. The country is building on these gains to strengthen Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems, with the goal of achieving universal birth and death registration, Universal Health Coverage, and SDG targets by 2030. The launch of the CRVS Strategic Plan (2025–2030) and the Vital Statistics Report (2022) further consolidates these efforts and strengthens joint measurement and accountability.

WHO is also supporting capacity building through the revival of the Malawi Knowledge Translation Platform under the Public Health Institute of Malawi, including the development of a digital knowledge translation portal. Over 70 MoH technical officers and partners have been trained, and more than 15 knowledge products, such as infographics, blogs, fact sheets, and policy briefs, have been developed and disseminated through WHO newsletters, national and international conferences, and platforms such as the Malawi and Africa Health Observatory.

Progress in digital health has been accelerated through the WHO’s Digital Health Competence Framework and the WHO Academy’s Digital Health Planning National Systems & Telemedicine Applied Training (DPHNS). The MoH has also leveraged digital adaptation kits and SMART guidelines to design the Malawi Health Care Information System and strengthen the use of the Digital Health Atlas.

With an updated Digital Health Atlas, the MoH, donors, and implementing partners can centrally track, coordinate, and guide investments in digital health solutions, ensuring alignment with the “One Plan, One Budget, One Monitoring and Evaluation Report. This platform helps prevent duplication, streamline project evaluation from the design stage, reduce workload, save time, and direct resources where they are most needed.

Through sustained investments and strong partner coordination under the Health Data Collaborative, Malawi is building a more resilient, data-driven health system, positioning the country to achieve Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.