Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia aim to develop health information systems that are based on valid, reliable, and comparable data, and to integrate clinical, administrative, and financial health information to become an effective support for choosing priorities, optimizing investments, avoiding duplication, and improving the quality of care.

The goal of the South Caucasus Health Information Project is to strengthen health reform in the South Caucasus countries, through the appropriate application of health information technology and information management strategies.

Specifically, the project’s objectives are to:

1. Assist in the development of national health information management plans and strategies for sharing health information within and among the three South Caucasus countries;

2. Build capacity for health information management through training of professionals and integration of health information modules into academic curricula in the health sector;

3. Enhance capacity of stakeholders to use health information for better decision-making in health and other sectors, while identifying gender-specific health issues; and,

4. Move from isolated to integrated health information systems focused on better health outcomes.

An important factor in the governance and delivery of health services is rational and functioning health information systems. In the long run, the impact resulting from the achievement of the project objectives will be: Health information systems developed to support greater equity and accountability in the health sector, and improved health outcomes in the South Caucasus.

The South Caucasus Health Information Project officially began in September 2001, and will continue until February 2005.

Through the Trans Caucasus Health Information Project (see TCHIP final report), which began in March 1999 and was completed August 31, 2001, the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH) has contributed to the health reform process in the region and has laid the foundation for collective action in health information. Under the auspices of this project, the Directors of the health information departments of the Ministries of Health of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia signed a declaration in which they committed their respective Ministries of Health to work together to create a health information network for the South Caucasus region. The South Caucasus Health Information Project (SCHIP), Phase II, will build on these results and focus on:

• Further detailing the regional vision for HIS;

• Institutionalizing HIS training;

• Consolidating pilot applications and using them to model good practices; and

• Using HIS to link key health institutions and build inter-sectoral collaboration by strengthening the population health/determinants of health approach.

In addition to supporting each of the South Caucasus countries’ health reform agendas, the South Caucasus Health Information Project fits neatly with regional priorities for health reform, as described by the WHO Euro and other donor agencies, as well as with Canadian priorities for overseas development assistance. The project will make use of the Canadian comparative advantage in health and promote Canadian principles and values to support the partners in their transition to democracy. As in the previous efforts, a regional approach will be taken as a means of promoting a peaceful post-Soviet transition.