Introduction to the Health and Nutrition Tracking Service

The humanitarian community is collecting more and better information than ever before on people affected by wars, disasters, and protracted crises. Too much of this information, however, is not yet used well to improve their lives.

• Information may be collected but not effectively shared
• If it is shared, its definitions and methods of collection may not be clear, so it is difficult to interpret
• It can be correctly interpreted, but the interpretation may be made in isolation from the context and other sources of relevant information such as rapid assessments, service statistics from providers or censuses
• A contextually embedded analysis may be made, but the results may be poorly communicated to policy makers and the public

Many non-governmental organizations have established units to improve the collection of data in the areas where they work. The SMART initiative, among other efforts, has helped improve how data on nutrition, mortality, and livelihoods is collected. CRED, among other activities, has improved the availability of data from the surveys that reach them. Health and nutrition clusters in some countries have improved coordination and local availability of information. A more robust approach to collect, analyse, and communicate the results of analyses to policy makers, the wider humanitarian community and the public is still needed. The Health and Nutrition Tracking Service (HNTS) is designed to do this.

The HNTS was constituted in October 2007. It is developing mechanisms for the review, analysis, interpretation and validation of critical health and nutrition information in selected humanitarian emergencies. This includes the review of existing data from a wide variety of on-the-ground sources as well as more formal surveys. It will advise on the use of the resulting analyses for advocacy and programming with funders, UN organizations, and NGOs.

At the global level, the HNTS is focusing on gaps and limitations in existing methodologies for collection of data relevant to humanitarian assessment and how to improve them through its Expert Reference Group and its engagement with existing initiatives. HNTS will identify data gaps in selected priority countries and engage with relevant groups to address these gaps.

At the country level, the opportunities presented by engagement in various countries through the health and nutrition clusters will be used to improve the skills and abilities of in-country partners (e.g. governments, NGOs, community based organizations) to improve the quality data collection, analysis and their interpretation. It is designed to supplement, and not replace, existing efforts in areas with humanitarian crises.

For more information, please contact:

The HNTS Technical Secretariat is hosted by the World Health Organization, Health Action in Crisis Cluster (HAC).

Contact the Secreteriat:
email: hnts@who.int
Telephone: +41227911079

World Health Organization
Health Action in Crises
Health and Nutrition Tracking Service (HNTS)
Avenue Appia 20
CH - 1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland

HNTS Steering Committee (SC)

HNTS Expert Reference Group (ERG)

Consultancies

Activity progress reports