When feeling unwell, many of us reach for our phones before we reach a clinic. We search symptoms online, read advice on social media, or message friends and family for recommendations.
In today’s digital world, information is immediate and abundant. Yet access alone does not guarantee clarity – or better decisions.
This year’s World Health Day theme, “Together for health. Stand with science,” reminds us that science is not only about laboratories or medical breakthroughs. It is also about how we use data and digital systems to guide decisions—from everyday care to national policy—and how we build health systems that are more resilient, responsive, and equitable.
In Lao PDR, digital transformation is a key government priority, driving the adoption of digital technologies across sectors to strengthen administrative processes and improve service delivery. However, as in many settings, a key challenge is not the absence of data but ensuring its timely and integrated use for decision-making.
Digital health systems play a central role in addressing this challenge. The Lao national Health Management Information System (HMIS), built on a widely used DHIS2 platform, serves as the backbone of routine health sector reporting, consolidating and analysing data from across the country to support timely monitoring of service delivery, identification of gaps, and more responsive decision-making.
- At the frontline, digital tools support health workers in screening, referral, and follow-up – helping ensure that patients receive timely care.
- At the facility level, they improve diagnosis, strengthen continuity of care, and support better patient management.
- At the national level, they provide critical insights for planning, budgeting, and policy, ensuring that limited resources are directed where they are needed most.
Smarter investments, stronger systems
Digital technologies are also strengthening health systems more broadly.
By improving how data is used, they make systems more efficient, reducing duplication and improving coordination across programmes and partners. They make systems more responsive, enabling faster identification of service gaps and emerging health issues. And they make systems more equitable, helping to reach underserved communities and tailor interventions to those most in need.
In Lao PDR, digital reporting and data use have supported key public health programmes, including immunization and disease surveillance, allowing for more targeted outreach and improved service coverage.
In a resource-constrained setting, these gains are significant. Standing with science means ensuring that every investment is guided by evidence and delivers maximum impact.
Stronger digital systems also enable a shift from reactive to proactive health systems. Through event-based and indicator-based surveillance systems, supported by digital tools, Lao PDR has strengthened its ability to detect and respond to public health threats. Systems such as the Early Warning, Alert and Response System (EWARS) not only support timely reporting and rapid response to potential outbreaks but also enable the integration of climate data to support forecasting of climate-sensitive diseases, such as dengue, allowing earlier and more targeted public health action.
These capabilities allow health authorities to identify risks earlier, act faster, and contain outbreaks more effectively – protecting communities and reducing the burden on the health system.
More broadly, better data enables forecasting and planning, allowing for earlier action and more effective prevention. Emerging tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) can further enhance these capabilities by supporting pattern recognition and decision-support, helping translate growing volumes of data into timely and actionable insights.
The Ministry of Health, with support from partners including the World Health Organization, continues to strengthen health information systems and digital capacities across all levels. These efforts are helping ensure that science is not only generated, however translated into action.
Investment in digital health is not optional. It is one of the most effective ways to strengthen health systems—particularly where resources are limited. By improving how data is collected, shared, and used, digital systems help maximize efficiency, improve quality of care, and deliver better health outcomes.
We will move forward, together
Standing with science means more than believing in evidence – it means using it. It means turning data into better decisions, and better decisions into better care across every level of the health system.
On this World Health Day, we reaffirm our shared commitment to harnessing science and digital innovation to build a stronger, more resilient, and more equitable health system for all.