Practitioners’ perspective: DHIS-2 nutrition data: Progress, challenges, and lessons learned from Kenya

The District Health Information System (DHIS2) platform has proven to be a powerful tool to strengthen collection of routine data within country health systems, yet standardized nutrition indicators has been glaringly absent, as part of the DHIS2 digital data package. In 2021, the first-ever DHIS2 nutrition module, launched by UNICEF, aimed to strengthen data collection and use of routine administrative data for monitoring the implementation of maternal and child nutrition interventions. In this practitioners’ perspective, we discuss the progress made and gaps in the Kenya Health Information System (KHIS), in relation to the DHIS2 nutrition module, for selected indicators pertaining to maternal nutrition, infant and young child feeding, vitamin A supplementation for children 6–59 months of age, and adolescent nutrition. To date, Kenya has made progress in documentation and provision of vitamin A supplementation through multiple platforms, including early childhood development centers and integration of baby friendly community indicators into KHIS. Yet, key gaps exist in the collection of maternal nutrition counselling indicators during antenatal care and postnatal care, lack of specificity of nutrition counselling topics for Baby-Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI), infant and young child feeding (IYCF), and maternal nutrition, and the absence of nutrition indicators for adolescent girls of reproductive age and boys in the KHIS. Moving forward, the integration of standardized maternal, child, and adolescent nutrition indicators into the KHIS, and consideration of the integration and interoperability of school nutrition data from Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS) with KHIS will be critical for strengthening health, nutrition and food security programs.