World health statistics 2007, published by the World Health Organization (WHO), presents the most recent health statistics for WHO’s 193 Member States. The core set of indicators was selected on the basis of their relevance to global health, the availability and quality of the data, and the accuracy and comparability of estimates. The core indicators do not aim to capture all relevant aspects of health but to provide a comprehensive summary of the current status of a population’s health and the health system at country level. These indicators include: mortality outcomes, morbidity outcomes, risk factors, coverage of selected health interventions, health systems, inequalities in health, and demographic and socioeconomic statistics.
Monitoring equity and research policy
World Health Statistics 2007
World Health Organization , 2007
Geographical disparities in core population coverage indicators for roll back malaria in Malawi
Kazembe LN, Appleton CC, Kleinschmidt I: International Journal for Equity in Health, 2007, 6 : 5, 4 July 2007
Implementation of known effective interventions would necessitate the reduction of malaria burden by half by the year 2010. Identifying geographical disparities of coverage of these interventions at small area level is useful to inform where greatest scaling-up efforts should be concentrated. They also provide baseline data against which future scaling-up of interventions can be compared. However, population data are not always available at local level. This study applied spatial smoothing methods to generate maps at subdistrict level in Malawi to serve such purposes.
IDRC and SSHRC : Social science and humanities expertise to be harnessed for international impact
International Development Research Centre, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Canada ’s IDRC and the SSHRC have signed an agreement to invest up to $6.27 million over the next six years to support international research alliances. This partnership will engage teams from Canada and developing countries in comparing and collaborating on their research, while working with people in communities that will directly benefit from the research. This partnership is a practical expression of the idea that new knowledge, generated through research, is key for people to improve their futures. The joint program will encourage strategic research in four areas: environment and natural resource management; information and communication technologies for development; the impact of science, technology and innovation policies on development; social and economic policy related to poverty reduction, growth, health and human rights.
Assessing outcomes of health and medical research: do we measure what counts or count what we can measure?
Wells R and Whitworth JA: Australia and New Zealand Health Policy 4:14, 28 June 2007
Governments world wide are increasingly demanding outcome measures to evaluate research investment. Health and medical research outputs can be considered as gains in knowledge, wealth and health. Measurement of the impacts of research on health are difficult, particularly within the time frames of granting bodies. Thus evaluations often measure what can be measured, rather than what should be measured. Traditional academic metrics are insufficient to demonstrate societal benefit from public investment in health research. New approaches that consider all the benefits of research are needed.
Generating political priority for global health initiatives: A framework and case study of maternal mortality
Shiffman J: Global Center for Development, July 2007
The author developed this framework while conducting an in-depth case study of the safe motherhood initiative and supplemented the findings with research done on AIDS, reproductive health, and other health initiatives. At its core, the framework posits eleven factors under four key categories (actor capability, framing, political opportunities, and issue characteristics) driving the success or failure of health initiatives (i.e. polio eradication, the AIDS movement, etc).
Assessment of a national monitoring and evaluation system for rapid expansion of antiretroviral treatment in Malawi
Lowrance D, Filler S, Makombe S, Harries A, Aberle-Grasse J, Hochgesang M, Libamba E: Tropical Medicine & International Health 12 (3): 377-381, March 2007
Monitoring and evaluation of national antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs is vital, but routine, standardized assessment of national ART patient monitoring systems has not been established. Malawi has undertaken an ambitious ART scale-up effort, with over 57 000 patients initiated on ART by June 2006. This paper reports on an assessment of the national ART monitoring and evaluation system in Malawi to ensure that the response to the epidemic was being monitored efficiently and effectively, and that data collected were useful. It propoises that assessment of ART monitoring and evaluation systems can optimize the effectiveness of national ART programs, and should be considered in other resource-constrained countries rapidly scaling up ART.
The use of personal digital assistants for data entry at the point of collection in a large household survey in southern Tanzania
Shirima K, Mukasa O, Armstrong Schellenberg J, Manzi F, John D, Mushi A, Mrisho M, Tanner M, Mshinda H, Schellenberg D: Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 4:5, 1 June 2007
Survey data are traditionally collected using pen-and-paper, with double data entry, comparison of entries and reconciliation of discrepancies before data cleaning can commence. We used Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) for data entry at the point of collection, to save time and enhance the quality of data in a survey of over 21,000 scattered rural households in southern Tanzania.
Country health fact sheet system 2006: South Africa
World Health Organisation
The AFRO’s Global Health Atlas brings together for analysis and comparison standardised data and statistics for diseases at country, regional, and global levels. The Atlas acknowledges the broad range of determinants that influence patterns of infectious disease transmission. Country fact sheets are available for South Africa.
Country health fact sheet system 2006: Swaziland
World Health Organisation
The AFRO’s Global Health Atlas brings together for analysis and comparison standardised data and statistics for diseases at country, regional, and global levels. The Atlas acknowledges the broad range of determinants that influence patterns of infectious disease transmission. Country fact sheets are available for Swaziland.
Country health fact sheet system 2006: Tanzania
World Health Organisation
The AFRO’s Global Health Atlas brings together for analysis and comparison standardised data and statistics for diseases at country, regional, and global levels. The Atlas acknowledges the broad range of determinants that influence patterns of infectious disease transmission. Country fact sheets are available for Tanzania.