Reshaping health statistics: A new framework

The field of health statistics has lagged behind other areas of statistics particularly in relation to reliable, timely, core information on health for use within countries and for cross national comparisons. A new framework is needed to successfully reshape health statistics. The UN Statistical Commission at its 35th meeting (2004) called for the establishment of an "inter-secretariat working group on health statistics (ISWG-HS) to develop a coordinated and integrated agenda for the production of health statistics and agree on standard definitions, classifications and methodologies in health statistics taking advantage of existing mechanisms wherever possible, and involving the community of official statistics at all stages." The Framework for health statistics described in this paper was developed by the members of this group. The Framework for Health Statistics provides a structure for identifying the kinds of information that should be collected; for assessing the extent to which these data are available and with what quality and comparability; for identifying data gaps; and for identifying where international standards are needed to support the collection of high-quality information. It facilitates dialogue among the national statistical authorities and other parties that fund or conduct health data collection, including health ministries and other para-statistical organizations such as institutes for public health.