Gender and social stratifiers in health management information Systems and the use of evidence in planning
Health Management Information System (HMIS) is the main information platform implemented throughout Nepal in the public sector to record and report health service utilization data. The availability of disaggregated data based on gender and other social stratifiers in HMIS allows policymakers to conduct gender and intersectional analysis to improve health outcomes and address inequities. There is a growing concern and recognition that gender and intersectionality should be included in the routine HMIS, however, it is less known whether, how, and to what extent information management systems in the public and private sectors provide gender and intersectionality-focused evidence and how this data are used to inform health planning and decisions. We conducted this study to assess the availability and use of gender and social stratifiers in the information management system of public and private sector and design an evidence-informed framework that promotes the generation and use of evidence disaggregated by gender and social stratifiers in planning and decision-making.