The Australian Government will partner with several Pacific island countries to boost capacity to collect and analyse health data, with the establishment of a Pacific Health Information Support Hub.
Announced by Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health the Hon Emma McBride MP, at the Pacific Health Ministers’ Meeting in Tonga, the hub will be delivered by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and will support partner governments in the Pacific to build resilient and equitable health systems.
The program is supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as part of the Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative, which is investing $620 million over five years in high-quality health programs across the Pacific and Southeast Asia.
The AIHW is Australia’s government agency for information and statistics on Australia’s health and welfare, providing data to inform discussions and policy decisions on health, community services, and housing assistance, among others.
Quotes attributable to Minister for International Development and The Pacific, Pat Conroy MP:
“Australia is committed to working in close partnership with governments in the Pacific to strengthen their health systems.
“This initiative will save lives by strengthening health information systems and improve the ability to collect, validate, analyse, and disseminate health data to inform health policy.”
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health, Emma McBride MP:
“Good and reliable data is critical to understanding the health needs of communities, the program is about gathering evidence to better understand the health needs of communities.
“It aims to develop better health policy, through supporting countries to obtain and use robust and reliable health data, for the benefit of people across the Pacific.”
