Reports
The Reports page in the Output section builds reports from the loaded dataset. There are two kinds:
| Kind | What it is | Files you can download |
|---|---|---|
| Document | Pages of text, charts and tables, with an optional cover page and contents | Word (.docx) or PDF |
| Slide deck | Slides with text boxes, charts, tables and pictures | PowerPoint (.pptx) or PDF |
Charts and tables are drawn from the data every time you preview or download, so a report always reflects the current state of your analysis (years removed, adjustment, denominators). Every report you create is saved in the dataset and listed under Your reports. For downloading single charts and tables, datasets and the AI assistant, see Exports, reports and AI.
Reports are stored inside the dataset file. Creating or editing a report rewrites the saved dataset (the .rds cache), and the report list travels with it. Keep a copy of the dataset before you experiment, and share the dataset if you want a colleague to open your reports.
The page subtitle in the app still says “Word and PDF reports”. The code also builds slide decks, and the one-pager is a PowerPoint deck.
Standard reports
A standard report is the Countdown report of one analysis section, rebuilt as editable blocks. It opens as your own copy: change or delete anything. Text blocks written as questions (headed Notes or Interpretations) are prompts for the analyst; replace them with the interpretation agreed at your review meeting.
Each app has its own set of standard reports:
RMNCAH
| Standard report | Kind | What it contains | Page with a Generate Report button |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data quality | Document | Data quality summary table, district reporting rates, ANC1/Penta1 and Penta1/Penta3 consistency, with questions on score, completeness and outliers | Overall Data Quality Score |
| Data adjustment | Document | Background, then reported numbers before and after adjustment for institutional live births and Penta1, with a prompt to describe the effect in the latest year | Data Adjustment Changes |
| Denominator selection | Document | DHIS2 and UN projections of population, live births and under 1, then coverage of Penta3 and institutional live births under each denominator, national and by region | Denominator Selection |
| National coverage | Document | Coverage of ANC4, ANC in the first trimester, delivery care (institutional deliveries and institutional live births), PNC 48h, low birth weight, Penta3 and Measles 1; maternal and child continuum of care; family planning (FPET); districts reaching targets; continuum by region | Continuum of Care |
| National inequality | Document | For institutional live births and Penta3: coverage by region over time, map, equity by wealth and education; then coverage by district | Equity Assessment |
| Mortality | Document | Institutional maternal (iMMR), stillbirth (iSBR) and neonatal mortality trends, stillbirths per maternal death, completeness of death reporting | Mortality Completeness |
| Curative health services | Document | Service utilization data quality table, outpatient and inpatient charts and maps, preventive vs curative index | MCH Preventive vs Curative Index |
| Health system performance | Document | Health system inputs table and by-region charts (facilities, hospitals, health workers, beds), service outputs by inputs | PHC Performance |
| Public/private share | Document | Ownership of facilities and the private share of services, nationally and by rural/urban area | Public/Private Share |
| Synthesis chartbook | Document, chartbook page (13.9 x 22 in) | All six analysis areas (data quality and denominators, coverage and targets, equity and geography, mortality, curative services, health system) with interpretation questions and a cover for the country team | Reports page only |
| Sub-national one-pager | Slide deck, one 16:9 slide | One region: Penta3, institutional live births and ANC4 against other regions and over time, the data quality score table and a coverage table by district | Reports page only |
Which of these most stakeholders ask for, and what each is for: Dissemination > Information products.
Open the Reports page
Finish the prerequisites
Reports stays locked until you have loaded a dataset and run Data Adjustment (see Data preparation).
RMNCAH
Choose denominators on Denominator Selection first: most charts use them.
Open it
Click Reports under Output, or click Reports in the top header. A Generate Report button in a page header also opens the page and starts the matching standard report.
Generate a standard report
Choose a report
Under Standard reports (documents) or Standard slide decks, click a card. Each card shows how many charts and tables it holds. You can also start from New document or New slide deck (Start blank).
Name it and choose its language
A dialog asks for the report name (for example, the report and country), the Report language (English, French or Portuguese) and confirms with Create report. The report language is independent of the app language: the standard text is written in it, and the charts, tables and dates are always drawn in it. You can change it later on the Layout tab; charts and tables are redrawn, but text you wrote yourself is not translated.
Wait for the charts
The editor opens at once. Each chart shows Drawing from the dataset and appears one by one. A chart that cannot be drawn shows Could not be drawn with this dataset with the reason.
Set the region, if the report has one
For the one-pager (and any chart drawn for one region), pick the region on the Layout tab, under Report, in Region of this report. The first region in alphabetical order is chosen for you. Leave it empty for a national report. To produce a one-pager for every region, duplicate the report from the list and change the region.
Edit, then check
Replace the prompts, delete what you do not need, then open Print layout to see the final pages (see below).
Download
Choose Download, pick the format and wait for the progress bar (Drawing charts from the dataset, then Writing the Word file, Printing the PDF or Writing the PowerPoint file). The file downloads by itself; Download again is offered if it does not.
The document editor
The Blocks panel (left) differs between the apps:
RMNCAH
- Blocks panel (left). The Blocks tab lists every chart and table kind grouped by analysis area, with a search box (Search charts, tables, text); Text and layout holds Heading, Sub-heading, Paragraph, Notes box and Page break. Drag a block onto a page, or press + to add it after the selected block. The Outline tab lists the report’s structure. A Custom group is announced for charts made for your dataset; it is empty for now.
The rest of the editor is the same in both apps:
- Chart and table settings. Select a block to set what it shows: Indicator, Level (National, Region or District), a variant (in the RMNCAH App, for example Maternal or Child), Year, Region, Width (Full width, Half or Third), a title and Show caption and source. Customize this chart changes text, fonts and colours for this chart in this report only. Charts you customised in the app with Apply to: Report keep that styling.
- Order and removal. Drag a block by its handle, or use Move up, Move down, Duplicate and Delete. Undo and Redo (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y) cover edits. Changes save automatically (Saved in the dataset).
- Text. Type directly. Enter starts a paragraph, Shift+Enter a new line. Insert Fields such as
{country},{region},{first_year},{latest_year},{chart_indicator}or coverage values like{penta3_latest}; they are filled in from the data and follow the report language. - Design. The Design tab holds themes (Countdown, Ministry of Health, Minimal, Formal), colours, fonts, the Cover page (title, subtitle, logos, country flag, editors, date, reference) and Contents. Layout sets page size (A4, Letter, chartbook, poster), orientation, margins, page numbers, header and footer. Browse for Themes builds a theme from a PowerPoint or Word file (
.potx,.pptx,.dotx,.docx); downloads are then written from that file. - Views. Edit, Read mode, Print layout (the exact final pages), Focus and zoom.
- Slide decks use a slide editor with layouts, a slide sorter, speaker notes and text boxes; charts and tables are placed on slides in the same way.
Formats and downloads
| Format | Made by | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Word .docx | The app | Editable. On Windows with Word installed, Word also fills in the contents page and embeds fonts |
| PDF of a document | Made from the Word file by Microsoft Word or LibreOffice, so pages match Word exactly | If neither is installed, Chrome, Edge or Chromium prints it: close to the Word file, but pages can differ |
PowerPoint .pptx | The app | Text, charts and tables stay editable in PowerPoint |
| PDF of a slide deck | PowerPoint or LibreOffice | Not possible without one of them |
The file is named after the country, the report name and the date, for example Kenya_Synthesis_chartbook_2026-09-26.docx, and is saved wherever your browser or DataSuite saves downloads. A document cannot be exported as PowerPoint, nor a deck as Word.
Prerequisites that change report content
RMNCAH
- Removed years and adjustment decide the numbers in every coverage, adjustment and mortality chart.
- Denominators chosen on Denominator Selection are used by the coverage charts. Without them, the coverage-by-denominator trend chart says Choose the denominators first.
- Surveys. Equity charts and facility-versus-survey comparisons need the survey files you loaded.
- Country reference data. The FPET chart needs family planning estimates for the country.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Could not be drawn with this dataset in a block | The dataset lacks the data. Read the reason after it, load the missing file or delete the block. The same text appears in the exported file |
| Choose a region | A regional chart has no region: set Region of this report |
| No district coverage for … in … | Pick a year and region that have data |
| Final pages or PDF fail, or say a converter is missing | Install Microsoft Word or LibreOffice on the computer running the app. Word download still works |
| Slide deck PDF fails | Needs PowerPoint or LibreOffice. Download PowerPoint instead |
| Slow generation | The first draw of a long report, such as the synthesis chartbook, computes every chart. Wait for the progress bar; later edits redraw only what changed |
Tips for stakeholders
What to settle, state and fill in before a report goes to stakeholders: Dissemination > Preparing reports for stakeholders. In the app, the cover is on the Design tab, the language is the Report language (also on the Layout tab), Print layout shows the final pages, and duplicating a report from the list gives a one-pager for another region.
What this page does not cover
Page notes added with the Notes button are not part of the report builder as far as the source shows. The Custom chart group of the RMNCAH App is a placeholder. Where DataSuite saves downloaded files depends on your browser or desktop settings, which the report code does not control.