Data quality challenges compromising the effective implementation of the district health information system in South Africa

The District Health Information System (DHIS) is a vital tool for strengthening South Africa’s health system by generating reliable data for planning, monitoring, and innovating health services. Yet it faces persistent ethical challenges to data quality that compromise its effectiveness. These issues extend beyond technical barriers, as ethical lapses, social issues, and infrastructural limitations intersect to produce inaccurate, incomplete, and unreliable data. This article outlines these problems, drawing on secondary literature retrieved non-systematically from credible databases. We propose strategies to confront them by drawing on insights from other countries. However, strategies in other countries also have their problems. We identified these issues and concluded by recommending various ways to address them.