A Zoom webinar was held to launch the Journal of Adolescent Health supplement: Advances in adolescent health measurement.
Access the supplement articles
About 1.3 billion of the world’s population are adolescents, defined as those aged 10-19 years.
Adolescents bear long periods of exposure to, and consequences of health risks yet are often least able to influence their environment and make decisions for their own well-being. Therefore, measurement of health behaviours and determinants, outcomes, and policy and programme implementation are essential for improving adolescent health now and for future generations.
To improve global and national adolescent health measurement, WHO in collaboration with UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, the World Bank Group, and the World Food Programme, established the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent health) Advisory Group in 2018. A key milestone was achieved in 2023 with the selection of 47 priority indicators around the most important health issues. The 47 GAMA-recommended indicators span across six domains: (1) programmes, policies and laws, (2) systems performance and interventions, (3) social, cultural, economic, educational, and environmental health determinants, (4) health behaviours and risks, (5) subjective well-being and (6) health outcomes and conditions.
This supplement describes the methods and results of the selection of the 47 adolescent health indicators:
- How the indicators were selected and why they illustrate the most comprehensive picture of adolescent health;
- How countries, young people and other stakeholders were involved in the process;
- How the indicators align across different initiatives and data collection instruments; and
- How the indicators complement the Sustainable Development Goals.
Programme information:
Moderators: Ms Charity Giyava and Mr Dakshitha Wickremarathne
Agenda
In a moderated session the lead authors of the five research papers will outline the methods, findings and importance of their research in five minutes each. A panel discussion engaging UN and country representation, in addition to the lead authors, will then take place to further contextualize the research and implications for uptake of the indicators. Closing remarks will be provided by the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Adolescent Health.
- Welcome remarks
- Supplement highlights and overview
- Panel discussion including UN and country representatives
Lead authors:
- Dr Anna Kågesten - Exploring a Preliminary Set of Indicators to Measure Adolescent Health: Results From a 12-Country Feasibility Study.
- Dr Marina Melkumova - Challenges and Opportunities to Advance Adolescent Health Measurement in Armenia: Alignment Between Global Priority Indicators and National Policies, and Feasibility of Collecting Sexual, Reproductive, and Mental Health Indicators.
- Dr Andrew Marsh - Indicators to Measure Adolescent Health at the Country, Regional, and Global Levels: Results of a Five-Year Selection Process by the Global Action for the Measurement of Adolescent Health.
- Ms Emma Wallengren - Relevance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to Adolescent Health Measurement: A Systematic Mapping of the SDG Framework and Global Adolescent Health Indicators.
- Ms Holly Newby - Towards Harmonized Adolescent Health Measurement: Assessing Alignment Between Current Recommendations and the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health–Recommended Indicators.
Panel:
- Dr Zoya Ali Rizvi, India
- Mr Parviz Abduvahobov, UNESCO
Closing remarks:
- Dr Carol Ford, Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Adolescent Health
For more information please email gama@who.int