More than two-thirds of the world’s population lives in countries that do not produce reliable statistics on mortality by age, sex, and cause of death – one of the most important health indicators for understanding a country’s health priorities. Only half of countries reported cause of death data to WHO in 2014, and more than 100 countries worldwide don’t have reliable systems for registering births and deaths. Many countries lack good data on their health workforce, or for their health financing system.
“The weaknesses in our heath data made good planning and decision-making extremely difficult,” said Professor Abul Kalam Azad, Additional Director-General and Director of Management Information System in Bangladesh’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. “We made almost all decisions from assumptions. Now things have changed, especially at the local level. We are getting better data on time which is making a real difference to the quality of care people receive.”
Full article at: WHO