Cultivating a Self-Sustaining Digital Health Ecosystem in Ethiopia
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The Ethos: Localization as a Catalyst for Change
Recognizing that local challenges demand local solutions, JSI, jointly with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health (MOH), pioneered a model that treats community insights as central catalysts for change. The goal is to cultivate a self-sustaining system where Ethiopian experts lead, innovate, and manage the systems that save lives. This conviction drives the Data Use Partnership (DUP), an initiative supported by the Gates Foundation through which JSI is transitioning local academic and private partners from observers into architects of the digital health ecosystem.
The Intervention: Building Capacity for Autonomy
From 2019 to 2024, JSI collaborated with six Ethiopian universities on the Capacity Building and Mentorship Program (CBMP) – a Ministry of Health program designed to build skills in health information system (HIS) management. This engagement improved HIS performance in 36 districts and transitioned academic institutions to become key partners in HIS management.
Our goal is to integrate local counterparts into the data-digital ecosystem. By demystifying complex digital health solutions, we empower our partners to manage this work independently,” explains Wubshet Denboba, Project Director for JSI’s Data Use Partnership.
Beyond HIS capacity strengthening, JSI provides intensive mentorship in organizational development and grant management to the experts within these organizations, recognizing that for local partners to handle large-scale investments, they need mastery of financial compliance, human resource systems, and reporting standards. JSI is preparing these organizations to manage significant investment portfolios.
Through one-on-one mentorship with JSI’s technical and grants teams, our staff gained insights into the national HIS workstream,” reflects Biruk Belay of the Ethiopian Health Informatics Association (EHIA).
Local partners, including the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Quality Improvement (MERQ) Consultancy and EHIA, designed and launched solutions that are now central to Ethiopia’s digital health strategy:
- The National HIS Performance Dashboard: Developed by MERQ Consultancy, this centralized platform tracks and visualizes HIS performance nationwide, allowing officials to identify and correct bottlenecks in real-time.
- The Health Inequality Monitoring Dashboard: This tool evaluates disparities in health services by analyzing data based on geography, sex, and age. It ensures resources are directed to the most vulnerable populations.
- Private Sector Integration: For years, Ethiopia’s private health sector operated in a digital silo. A JSI-mentored local partner customized the Information Revolution Assessment Tool, integrating private facility data into the national HIS for a unified national health picture.
JSI’s partners are dynamic drivers for both change and long-term sustainability of quality health programs. They possess the unique insight to identify issues and the distinct expertise to resolve them. These partnerships extend beyond simply delivering digital tools to actively cultivating an environment where Ethiopian specialists take the lead in digital health innovation.