Affiliations: National Center for Health Statistics, USA | World Health Organization (retired), Geneva | Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, Brazil | Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia | National Statistical Coordination Board, Phillippines | Eurostat Bech D2/733, L2920 Luxembourg | Statistics South Africa (retired), South Africa | Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Uganda | Statistics Norway, Norway | Statistics Canada (retired), University of Ottawa, Canada
Note: [] Corresponding author: Jennifer Madans, National Center for
Health Statistics, 3311 Toledo Rd, Hyattsville, MD 20782, USA. E-mail: JMadans@cdc.gov
Abstract: 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.
Keywords: Health statistics, framework, international comparability
