The DIGIT platform is designed as an open, modular and interoperable digital infrastructure that provides countries with a unified interface for planning, managing and monitoring vaccination campaigns
The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa is advancing the digital transformation of public health delivery with the launch of the DIGIT Health Campaign Data Digitization Project, a regional initiative designed to modernize how health campaigns are planned, coordinated, implemented and monitored across the continent.
The initiative builds on growing experience across the Region in digitizing large-scale health campaigns. The DIGIT platform is designed as an open, modular and interoperable digital infrastructure that provides countries with a unified interface for planning, managing and monitoring vaccination campaigns, reducing reliance on fragmented and non-interoperable tools. The platform is being deployed through a first phase which will include seven pilot countries, laying the foundation for regional scale-up.
“The approach is centred on country ownership and data sovereignty. Rather than creating another stand-alone programme tool, DIGIT is intended to provide a common digital infrastructure through which information can be generated, managed and used across programmes,” said Dr Gedi Mohamed, Coordinator of the WHO AFRO Polio Eradication Programme (PEP).
Led jointly by the WHO African Region´s Polio Eradication Programme and the Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Control Cluster, in collaboration with the eGov Foundation and with support from the Gates Foundation, the three-year initiative seeks to accelerate the adoption of integrated, data-driven digital solutions that strengthen health systems, support Universal Health Coverage and advance progress towards the health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
Across the WHO African Region, countries have made important progress in digital health over the past decade. Yet gaps remain in the planning and implementation of complex health campaigns, particularly when multiple interventions, partners and data systems need to be coordinated simultaneously.
DIGIT seeks to address this challenge by enabling countries to move towards one integrated platform for campaign data and operations.
A key feature of DIGIT is the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geospatial intelligence into campaign management. This will enable countries to strengthen microplanning, identify underserved populations and monitor implementation in real time. By bringing location-based information together with campaign data, teams can better understand where interventions are reaching communities and where gaps remain.
The experience underpinning DIGIT has already reached significant scale. The key implementing partner, the eGOV Foundation’s Health Campaign Management experience on which the initiative builds has covered a population of 40 million people across Africa, providing a foundation for wider regional adoption.
“Health campaigns are some of the most important approaches for delivering preventive interventions to populations not easily reached by routine services. Currently, they are still largely planned and delivered vertically across programmes. This platform complements the WHO Regional Office for Africa’s broader work to strengthen integrated health campaign planning and implementation across programmes,” said Dr Benido Impouma, Director of the Universal Health Coverage/Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases Cluster, WHO Regional Office for Africa.
Preparatory work was first undertaken to enhance the DIGIT Health Campaign Management platform and establish the technical infrastructure required at the WHO Regional Office for Africa. This was followed by a joint advocacy mission to Chad earlier this year, bringing together representatives from WHO AFRO’s Polio Eradication Programme, the Gates Foundation, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the eGov Foundation.
The consultations confirmed strong political commitment to adopting the DIGIT-HCM platform and established a clear pathway for implementation: this resulted in the first pilot deployment of DIGIT-HCM in a district of N’Djamena Province during the June 2026 polio vaccination campaign. The pilot marked an important first step towards applying the platform at operational level and generating lessons for broader regional scale-up.
The experience also builds on WHO’s wider support to countries in using digital tools for campaign delivery. Across the region, particularly in polio priority countries, digital campaign systems have enabled health workers to submit campaign information electronically, allowing programme teams to see results more quickly than with traditional paper-based reporting.
Through the initiative, WHO and implementing partners will support countries in spatial data analysis, capacity-building and the institutionalization of geospatial tools within national health systems.
Participating Member States will be convened to assess national readiness, adapt implementation to country contexts and strengthen mechanisms for coordinating health campaigns. Enditem
Source: APO
