Kenya opens first Africa Health Data Forum in Nairobi with over 300 participants

Kenya's Health Cabinet Secretary, Aden Duale, opened the First Africa Health Data Forum in Nairobi on 10 November 2026. The three-day meeting runs until 12 November, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a news release on 10 November.

More than 300 participants from 51 countries are attending. The forum, on the theme "Better Data, Better Health for All", was convened by WHO, the Kenya Digital Health Agency and the Ministry of Health.

Duale said Kenya wants "one patient, one longitudinal health record, which are accessible wherever that patient receives care". He announced plans to establish a National Intelligence and Analytics Centre under the Digital Health Agency.

Professor Mohamed Yakub Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, launched a report at the opening, "The Maturity and Functionality of Health Information System in the WHO African Region". It rests on an assessment conducted in 2024 across 40 of the Region's 47 Member States and gives an overall maturity score of 59 out of 100.

Janabi pointed to Kenya's response to the Bundibugyo Ebola virus as an example of data at work. According to WHO, Kenya traced all 135 contacts of its first case, and the eight contacts who later tested positive were already in quarantine.

In a video message, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Africa's health data "must be owned, governed, and used by African countries in the interests of their people".

WHO launched the Regional Health Data Hub in August 2026 to bring together information from different health programmes. Dr Benson Droti of the WHO Regional Office for Africa showed participants how it works.

Duale asked participants to "leave Nairobi with a very practical Africa Health Data Roadmap" and a country-partner alignment matrix. The forum will meet every two years to review progress.