Consolidated guidelines on person-centred HIV strategic information: strengthening routine data for impact

Overview

As the HIV response moves to focusing on closing the remaining gaps in prevention, testing and treatment services, an evolution in the underlying routine data systems is needed to identify epidemiologic patterns and service gaps, and accelerate focused interventions.

These guidelines focus on the collection and use of person-centred data across the HIV cascade – from prevention, testing and treatment to longer-term health care – building upon 2017 and 2020 strategic information guidelines. The updated guidelines present a standard minimum dataset, priority indicators and recommendations to strengthen data use across HIV prevention, testing and treatment, and linkages to services for sexually transmitted infections, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and cervical cancer. The guidelines also cover the use of routinely collected data for HIV surveillance (including measurement of HIV prevalence and incidence) and emphasize the use of data from different sources to gain a better picture of epidemiologic trends.

Digital data plays an important role in the transformation of health information systems and the guidelines discuss the governance of digital health data in the transition from paper-based to digital systems and the importance of interoperability, unique identifiers, data security, privacy and confidentiality, and data access. Expanding national health information systems to include individual-level data will improve the quality and sustainability of data collection and use for improved health decision making and health outcomes.