Health data that is not disaggregated by gender obscures critical differences in disease burden, healthcare-seeking behaviour, and treatment outcomes between men and women. Despite growing global consensus on the importance of gender-responsive health systems, the majority of national health management information systems in sub-Saharan Africa still do not routinely produce gender-disaggregated indicators beyond reproductive health.
This analysis, drawing on a review of 14 national health datasets, identifies three persistent gaps: inconsistent sex coding at point of care, aggregation practices that mask gender differences at the district level, and a near-total absence of data on gender non-binary populations.
Addressing these gaps requires both technical fixes — standardising intake forms and data dictionaries — and cultural shifts within health institutions toward understanding gender as an analytical variable rather than a demographic footnote.