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Health and health
inequalities
New
Publications |
 Murray CJL,
Salomon JA, Mathers CD, Lopez AD, eds. Summary Measures of Population Health:
Concepts, Ethics, Measurements and Applications. 2002. Geneva, World Health
Organization. ISBN 9-24-154551-8.Available online at: http://www.who.int/pub/smph/en/index.html |
"...........This book
addresses a wide array of critical issues regarding the measurement of population health
using comprehensive indices combining information on mortality and ill-health. The various
uses of such summary measures of population health are described, and the appropriate
measurement framework and specific ethical and social value choices are discussed and
debated. The contributors include leading experts in epidemiological methods, ethics,
health economics, health status measurement and the valuation of health states.
Summary measures of population health are used by the World Health Organization to report
on levels of health and inequalities in health for its Member States, to report on the
causes of loss of health in terms of diseases, injuries and risk factors, to advise on
potential gains in health through cost-effective interventions, and in the analysis of the
efficiency of health systems around the globe.
Summary measures of population health are likely to become increasingly topical and
debated as the international community invests large amounts of money in tackling global
problems such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and poverty. How effective are these
efforts? What is the appropriate metric for quantifying levels of health at population
level, or for identifying those diseases, injuries and risk factors contributing most to
loss of health? This volume will serve as the fundamental reference for the
construction and use of summary measures of population health for scholars across all
public health disciplines." |
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Aims, scope of work, methods
and measures
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| Increasing overall
levels of health and reducing inequalities in health are key goals of health systems. In
the WHO framework, population health is measured according to the estimate of Healthy Life
Expectancy (HALE) which combines age-specific mortality with estimates of age-specific
prevalence of ill-health, weighted by severity. WHO has been systematically collecting
mortality data and survey information from countries on levels of ill-health and adjusts
these data where necessary, using standard techniques to correct for under-reporting or
lack of cross-population comparability. WHO would like its measure of inequalities in
health to reflect differences in HALE across individuals in a population. Average levels
of attainment are no longer considered an adequate assessment of how well a health systems
performs. The amount of inequality around that average level should also be reported. For
the first round of estimation, inequality in child survival has been reported. Ultimately,
we hope to be able to report on inequality in HALE. |
| Further readings and
discussion |
Level of health - Chronological list with downloads of
relevant documents
Health inequalities - Chronological list with downloads
of relevant documents
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Technical consultation dates
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Health inequalities - Geneva, Switzerland, November
2001
Cross-population comparability - Boston, USA, October
2001
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Life tables links
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Life table template - Excel template, example and
exercise for construction of a period life table.
Standard life table - Standard life tables for
calculation of YLL. Single year and abridged life tables included.
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Current mortality database link
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1997-1999 World Health Statistics Annual (Includes data
received since publication of 1996 edition)
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Burden of disease links
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The Global Burden of Disease project - results for 1990
and 2000, methods and documentation. Manuals, resources and software for carrying out
national burden of disease studies.
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