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Topic 1 of 18

Introduction to DHIS2

A Short Overview: What It Is, How It Holds Data, and What the Ten Topics Build

What DHIS2 Is

DHIS2 is a free platform for collecting health data and looking at it afterwards. Facilities report their numbers into it, districts and national programmes read those numbers back as tables, charts and maps, and the whole thing runs in a browser.

FactDetail
Who makes itThe University of Oslo, with a global community
LicenceFree and open source
Where it runsA server, a laptop, or a phone through the Android app
Who uses itMinistries of health in more than seventy countries, Sierra Leone among them
What it is notA patient record system for clinical care, though it can hold individual records
Two Ways It Holds Data

Almost every question about DHIS2 begins here, because the two models are configured differently and analysed differently.

Figure 1. Aggregate against tracker.
  1. 1Aggregate. Totals per facility per period. This is what routine monthly reporting uses, and what every topic here builds.
  2. 2Tracker and events. One record per person or event, for following a patient over time. A different course.
The Building Blocks

Five pieces of metadata carry everything. Learn what each one means and the rest of DHIS2 stops being mysterious.

PieceQuestion it answersExample
Organisation unitWhereNgelehun CHC, in Badjia, in Bo
Data elementWhatMalaria suspected cases
Category combinationSplit by whatSex of child: male and female
PeriodWhenSeptember 2026
Data setReported together, how oftenMonthly malaria service reporting
One value in DHIS2 is the answer to all of them at once: 130 suspected cases, male, at Ngelehun CHC, in September 2026.
How the Pieces Fit Together

The order matters, because each piece needs the one before it.

Figure 2. From an empty system to a dashboard.
  1. 1Organisation units. Nothing can be entered until these exist.
  2. 2Data elements. What each facility counts.
  3. 3Categories. How each count is broken down.
  4. 4Data set and form. What is reported, and what the form looks like.
  5. 5Data entry. The numbers going in each month.
  6. 6Indicators. Rates worked out from those numbers.
  7. 7Charts and maps. The numbers made readable.
  8. 8Dashboard. One page a programme can act on.
The Apps You Will Use

DHIS2 is a set of apps around one database. These are the seven that matter here.

Figure 3. The apps used across the topics.
  1. 1Maintenance. Where all metadata is created.
  2. 2Data Entry. Where the monthly numbers are typed.
  3. 3Import/Export. Bulk work, such as the organisation unit CSV.
  4. 4Data Visualizer. Tables and charts.
  5. 5Maps. The same data by place.
  6. 6Dashboard. Charts and maps on one page.
  7. 7Users. Who may see and enter what.
What This Hackathon Builds

By the end you will have taken an empty DHIS2 and produced a working malaria dashboard, with every step done by hand at least once.

TopicWhat you end up with
0DHIS2 running on your own laptop
1An organisation unit hierarchy, by hand and by CSV
2 and 3Ten malaria data elements, split by category
4 and 5A monthly data set and a readable form
6A month of data entered and validated
7Indicators, checked against a calculation on paper
8 and 9Charts of every type, and a thematic map
10A two column dashboard holding all of it
Words You Will Hear All Day
WordPlain meaning
MetadataThe setup: units, data elements, data sets. Not the numbers themselves
Aggregate dataThe numbers: totals per facility per period
UIDThe 11 character identifier DHIS2 gives every object
DisaggregationSplitting a count, for example by sex or age
Category option combinationOne cell of that split, such as male and under five
Analytics tablesThe tables DHIS2 builds so charts are fast. They run on a schedule
CompletenessHow many facilities reported, as opposed to what they reported
If a chart shows nothing but the data is there: nine times out of ten the analytics tables have not run since the data was entered. Data Administration app → Analytics tables → Start export.
Where to Go Next

Start with Topic 0 if you need your own DHIS2, or go straight to Topic 1 if you already have one. The topics build on each other, so take them in order.

Next: Topic 0, setting up DHIS2 locally, or Topic 1, organisation units.
DHIS2 Hackathon, Introduction