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Attuning to Global Health: Health Data Infrastructuring, Epidemiological Accountability and Digital Labor in Ghana

Research Output:
Journal Article or Conference Article in Journal
Journal article
Peer-review

Open access

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output:
Journal Article or Conference Article in Journal
Journal article
Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 547–559 (13 pages)

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Medical Anthropology: Cross-Cultural Studies in Health and Illness (Volume 44, Issue 6)

Publication milestones

  • Accepted/In press - 2025
  • Published - 22/08/2025

Publication status

Published - 22/08/2025

Publication IDs

  • Scopus: 105013803487

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork among Ghanaian officials and international developers in the field of health information systems, we investigate how innovations in health data infrastructures are aligned with global practices of epidemiological accountability. The digital health information system DHIS2 has been adopted in various low- and middle-income countries, including Ghana. While global stakeholders render public health a matter of efficiency and accountability, public health professionals attune at various levels to emerging global health priorities and data practices, e.g. the translation of standard case definitions and quantitative measures into local contexts, or innovations in reporting channels of key public health indicators.

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Citations
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Captures
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Funding Details

Alena Thiel received funding for this publication from the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, grant “Managing Uncertainty in Disaster Risk Reduction” (101103848) and the German Research Foundation, grant “Identifikationstechnologien und numerische Analysen von Entwicklung: Dynamiken demokratischer Wissensproduktion in Ghana” (432915420); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [432915420].
FundersFunding numbers
-
101103848
German Research Foundation
432915420