ucture, population estimates), survey/audit data, and certain types of case-based on patient-based data (for instance disease notification or patient satisfaction surveys). The system supports the capture of data linked to any level in an organisational hierarchy, any data collection frequency, a high degree of customisation at both the input and output side. It has been translated into a number of languages.The DHIS was originally developed for three health districts in Cape Town in 1998-99, but has since spread via the HISP network to nearly half of sub-Saharan Africa, where its use covers a population of 300-400 million people, and to a number of countries in Asia. The initial scope - routine monthly Primary Health Center data – has systematically been expanded to cover nearly all aspects of health data and information (excluding electronic health records). Available aggregated data for South Africa from 1998-2007, for instance, represent close to one billion patient encounters.Fo