WHO/PAHO Collaboration

The Center for Health Informatics is a WHO/PAHO Collaborating Center. As a WHO/PAHO Collaborating Center, the center is designated by the organization’s director-general to carry out activities in support of the organization’s programs. 

The center will work on the Pan American Health Organization’s Information Systems for Health (IS4H) project. This project seeks to support countries in defining strategies, policies, standards for interoperable and interconnected systems, and best practices in health data management for improving decision-making and well-being. 

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) wears two institutional hats: it is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American System and also serves as Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO), the specialized health agency of the United Nations.

The center’s four year designation lasts from September 28, 2019 to September, 27 2023 and is renewable on a four-year basis. 

More on IS4H

Terms of Reference

Terms of reference (TOR) define the purpose and structures of a project or any similar collection of people who have agreed to work together to accomplish a shared goal.

TOR 1

To support PAHO/WHO in the implementation of the Information Systems for Health (IS4H) initiative.

TOR 2

To support PAHO/WHO in the development and implementation of the IS4H Toolkit and plan to strengthen national IS4H initiatives.

TOR 3

To support PAHO/WHO in its efforts to strengthen and improve the scientific validity of PAHO/WHO technical databases.

Publications with WHO/PAHO

  1. M. D´Agostino, N. Samuel, M.J. Sarol, G. de Cosio, M. Marti, T. Luo, I. Brooks, M. Espinal, “Open Data and Public Health.” Pan American Journal of Public Health. 2018;41:e134. doi: doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2018.66
  2. M. D´Agostino, F. Mejía, I. Brooks, M. Marti, D. Novillo-Ortiz, G. de Cosio, “Fear on the networks: Analyzing the 2014 Ebola outbreak,” Pan American Journal of Public Health. 2017;41:e134. doi: 10.26633/RPSP.2017.134
  3. Tangcharoensathien V, Calleja N, Nguyen T, Purnat T, D’Agostino M, Garcia-Saiso S, Landry M, Rashidian A, Hamilton C, AbdAllah A, Ghiga I, Hill A, Hougendobler D, van Andel J, Nunn M, Brooks I, Sacco PL, De Domenico M, Mai P, Gruzd A, Alaphilippe A, Briand S, “Framework for Managing the COVID-19 Infodemic: Methods and Results of an Online, Crowdsourced WHO Technical Consultation,” J Med Internet Res. 2020;22(6):e19659. DOI: 10.2196/19659

See COVID-19 Digital Health Resources