Survey
population and health risks
Information about health, health risks and population distribution is a cornerstone of disease and disability prevention. It enables evidence-informed planning evaluation of health policies and preventive activities, which in turn help to keep the workforce fit while minimizing the level of health care required by an ageing population.
Key elements
System of regular population-based health surveys
All countries generate regular, comprehensive, high-quality, nationally representative statistics with equity dimensions on population health status, health-related.
Surveillance of public health threats
All countries can detect public health events requiring rapid investigation and response and ensure timely action and control through:
- a strong indicator and event-based surveillance system that can detect events of significance for public health, animal health and health security (these are the two main channels of information for public health surveillance)
- effective communication and collaboration across sectors and between subnational, national and international authorities on surveillance of events of public health significance;
- strong country and intermediate level/regional capacity to analyse and link data from and between strengthened, real-time surveillance systems, including interoperable, interconnected electronic reporting systems, including at points of entry.
Regular population census
All countries should have regular censuses every 10 years, or equivalent population registries that provide information on population and socioeconomic characteristics by small geographical area, conducted in line with United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) standards.
A system of regular population-based health surveys
Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) Mobile Phone Survey
The NCD Mobile Phone Survey aims to support governments (e.g., ministries of health) in the implementation of representative mobile phone surveys for global NCD risk factor surveillance and establish a globally standardized NCD Mobile Phone Survey protocol.
Publishers
Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health initiative
Year
2020
World Health Survey Plus (WHS+)
The WHS+ is a multi-topic, multi-platform and multi-mode survey system developed and supported by WHO. It addresses essential data gaps using standardized survey modules while retaining the flexibility to customize for countries’ unique data needs. The high-quality data from the WHS+ is vital for countries to monitor their efforts to achieve national health targets and the health-related SDGs. WHS+ will strengthen countries’ data generation capacity and provide data to develop appropriate policies and programmes, allocate resources and prioritize interventions.
Publishers
WHO
Year
2020
International Household Survey Network (IHSN) resources
The IHSN’s mission is to improve the availability, accessibility, and quality of survey data within developing countries, and to encourage the analysis and use of this data by national and international development decision-makers, the research community, and other stakeholders
Publishers
IHSN
Year
various
STEPwise approach to noncommunicable disease risk factor surveillance (STEPS)
The WHO STEPwise approach to Surveillance (STEPS) is a simple, standardized method for collecting, analysing and disseminating data on risk factors for noncommunicable diseases. The approach encourages the collection of small amounts of useful information on a regular and continuing basis. The STEPS Instrument covers three different levels or “steps” of risk factor assessment: Step 1: Questionnaire; Step 2: Physical measurements; and Step 3: Biochemical measurements.
Publishers
WHO
Year
2017
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 6 (MICS6)
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is an international household survey programme developed and supported by UNICEF. Implemented through collaboration between UNICEF, country ministries of health and statistics offices, MICS is designed to collect estimates of key indicators that can be used to assess the situation of children and women, including on child protection and early childhood education. MICS also acts as a major source of data on child health and nutrition. Topics recently developed for MICS6 include: rapid water-quality testing, social transfers, foundational learning skills (children aged 7–14), child and adult functioning, migration status, use of clean fuels and technology, and victimization. MICS PLUS follows a standard MICS survey by continuing to collect information via mobile phones, accumulating longitudinal data which can be rapidly analysed and disseminated.
Publishers
UNICEF
Year
2017
Demographic Health Survey Program
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) are nationally representative household surveys that provide data for a wide range of health and demographic monitoring and impact evaluation indicators. Surveys can focus on topics such as child health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, malaria, gender, domestic violence, and tobacco use, but can include other topics depending on requirements.
Publishers
USAID
Year
2014
WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE)
WHO’s SAGE is a longitudinal study collecting data on adults aged 50 years and older, plus a smaller comparison sample of adults aged 18–49 years, from nationally representative samples in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russian Federation and South Africa.
Publishers
WHO
Year
2002
Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS)
The Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) explores ways of improving the type and quality of household data collected by statistical offices in developing countries. The goal is to foster increased use of household data as a basis for policy decision-making. Modules include: consumption, education, health employment, anthropometry, non-labour income, housing, price data, environmental issues, fertility, household income, savings, household enterprises, and time use.
Publishers
World Bank Group
Year
2000
Surveillance of public health threats
World Health Organization Health Emergency Dashboard
The World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergency Dashboard is a platform which aims to share information about public health events and emergencies.
The WHO Emergency Public Dashboard is an interactive web-based application. It provides a snapshot of events and emergencies being responded to by WHO worldwide. The data on the dashboard is refreshed every fifteen (15) minutes and data is accurate as at time of refreshing.
Publishers
WHO
Year
2020
Early Warning, Alert and Response System (EWARS)
The Early Warning, Alert and Response System (EWARS) is designed to improve disease outbreak detection in emergency settings, such as in countries in conflict or following a natural disaster. It is a simple and cost-effective way to rapidly set up a disease surveillance system.
Publishers
WHO
Year
2019
State Party self-assessment Annual Reporting (SPAR) tool – International Health Regulations (2005)
In response to the exponential increase in international travel and trade, and emergence and re-emergence of international disease threats and other health risks, 194 countries across the globe have agreed to implement the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR). The stated purpose and scope of the IHR are "to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways that are commensurate with and restricted to public health risks, and which avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade.” The State Party self-assessment Annual reporting tool (SPAR) is an IHR monitoring questionnaire that is sent to national IHR focal points for a self-assessment of their capacity to address international disease threats and other health risks, and send the results to WHO. There is also a guidance document that accompanies the SPAR tool.
Internal Resources
Publishers
WHO
Year
2016
Joint External Evaluation Tool: International Health Regulations
The Joint External Evaluation tool is intended to assess country capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats independently of whether they are naturally occurring, deliberate, or accidental. It includes a section on surveillance as one of the core capacities and provides a checklist and recommended indicators for countries to assess and monitor progress in core capacity development. It was developed by WHO in collaboration with partners and initiatives such as the Global Health Security Agenda.
Internal Resources
Publishers
WHO
Year
2018
Go.Data Managing complex data in outbreaks
Go.Data is an outbreak investigation tool for field data collection during public health emergencies. The tool includes functionality for case investigation, contact follow-up, visualization of chains of transmission including secure data exchange and is designed for flexibility in the field, to adapt to the wide range of outbreak scenarios. The tool is targeted at any outbreak responder.
Publishers
WHO and Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN)
Year
2015
Early detection, assessment and response to acute public health events
The goal of this document is to provide national health authorities, and stakeholders supporting them, with guidance for implementing or enhancing all-hazards early warning and response mechanisms within national surveillance systems. It aims to provide direction regarding the implementation of surveillance capacities, especially event-based surveillance, in order to detect and to respond rapidly to all acute health events and risks from any origin. The document was coordinated by WHO with inputs from partners including CDC and ECDC and ministries of health.
Internal Resources
Publishers
WHO
Year
2014
Outbreak surveillance and response in humanitarian emergencies
The purpose of this document is to provide a standard framework and best current practice for implementation of an Early Warning and Response Network (EWARN) and its operation in the field following humanitarian emergencies. These guidelines are intended for all individuals responsible for disease surveillance activities at all levels, including health facility staff, surveillance officers, epidemiologists, data analysts and statisticians, government health officials, sanitarians, managers of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), public health officers, laboratory personnel and community health workers.
Publishers
WHO
Year
2012
Regular population census
Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, Revision 3
The UN principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses, Revision 3, provide international principles and recommendations for use by national statistical offices and census officials worldwide in planning and organizing their censuses. The document is based on many years of experience and offers guidance on emerging issues, such as new data collection techniques and analysis.
Publishers
UNSD
Year
2017
Handbook on the Management of Population and Housing Censuses, Revision 2
This handbook provides guidance for the process of planning, collecting, compiling, evaluating, disseminating and analysing demographic, economic and social data for all persons in a country or in a well‐delimited part of a country at a specified time, and at the smallest possible geographical level
Publishers
UNSD
Year
2016