Papua New Guinea has set out a clear path as the first country to adopt the regional WHO Data Management Competency Framework, with the goal of developing and strengthening its health information workforce. Amidst capacity gaps on both national and sub-national levels, the Papua New Guinea National Department of Health (NDoH) launched, last September 2023, the Provincial Health Authority Monitoring & Evaluation toolkit, together with data management competency profiles based on the WHO Data Management Competency Framework. This initiative aims to equip the health workforce with essential skills for data management, analysis, and quality assessments.
Papua New Guinea's undertaking emerged as a direct outcome of a national health information workshop held in October 2022, where WHO Papua New Guinea collaborated with the NDoH to establish a standardized set of competencies required for data-related positions at both the national and provincial levels. These competency profiles are invaluable as they provide a clear foundation for developing tools to assess training needs and formulating comprehensive, long-term capacity-building strategies.
An example to follow
In response to this demand, Member States must ensure that their healthcare workforce possesses sufficient and adequate health information skills to effectively process, analyze, and utilize available data for improving health outcomes. Based on this rationale, the Data, Strategy, and Innovation (DSI) team at the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific developed the regional WHO Data Management Competency Framework in 2023. This framework serves as a practical tool, enabling stakeholders to identify capacity gaps and define the competencies necessary for the entire data lifecycle across the workforce in all levels of healthcare organizations.
Papua New Guinea serves as a pivotal example, highlighting the adaptability of the WHO Data Management Competency Framework to each Member State's unique context. This customization is indispensable, given the diverse nature of Member States' health information systems and their varying needs in addressing both present and future health challenges.