Global Health Observatory Explained

The Global Health Observatory (GHO) is a public health observatory established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to share data on global health, including statistics by country and information about specific diseases and health measures.^[1] The GHO tracks important information like "Response to the Millennium Development Goals".^[2]

History

The GHO was formed in around 2010 from the ashes of the WHO Statistical Information System, which was "upgraded... to provide you with more data, more tools, more analysis and more reports."^[3]

In December 2012, the WHO announced that it was making improvements in its GHO to improve its accessibility and usability by "specialists such as statisticians, epidemiologists, economists and public health researchers as well as anyone with an interest in global health."^[4]

Themes

The GHO website is organized around themes. For each theme, key statistics are presented on the associated webpage, and more detailed data and reports are available for download. The themes include:^[1]

• Millennium Development Goals
• Estimates of mortality and global health^[5]
• Health systems^[6]
• Public health and environment^[7]
• Health Equity Monitor^[8]
• International Health Regulations Monitoring framework^[9]
• Urban health^[10]
• Women and health^[11]
• Noncommunicable diseases^[12]
• Substance use and mental health
• Infectious diseases
• Injuries and violence

Reception and impact

The GHO has been listed by many libraries and dataset listings as a go-to source for information on health statistics.^{[13] [14] [15] [16]} The GHO has also been cited in work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.^[17]

GHO data has also been cited in academic studies on various aspects of global health, particularly for cross-country comparisons.^{[18] [19]}

See also

• The World Bank data sets^[20]
• Gapminder, which compiles data on a number of indicators, including health indicators, from a variety of sources
• Human Mortality Database, which includes information on mortality and causes of mortality, but is restricted to data built from official records

Notes and References

1. Web site: Global Health Observatory (GHO). World Health Organization. 3 July 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140703040528/http://www.who.int/gho/en/ . 3 July 2014.
2. Book: Holtz . Carol . Global Health Care: Issues and Policies . 2013 . Jones & Bartlett Publishers . 60.
3. News: WHO > Programmes and projects > Global Health Observatory (GHO) . World Health Organization . https://web.archive.org/web/20100430170010/http://www.who.int/gho/en/ . 30 April 2010.
4. Web site: Global Health Observatory – the one-stop shop for health data. https://web.archive.org/web/20131204234326/http://www.who.int/features/2012/global_health_observatory/en/. dead. December 4, 2013. December 2012. July 3, 2014. World Health Organization.
5. Web site: Mortality and global health estimates . Global Health Observatory section, World Health Organization. July 3, 2014.
6. Web site: Health systems. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413123529/http://www.who.int/gho/health_systems/en/. dead. April 13, 2014. Global Health Observatory section, World Health Organization. July 3, 2014.
7. Web site: Public health and environment. Global Health Observatory section, World Health Organization. July 3, 2014.
8. Web site: Health equity. Global Health Observatory section, World Health Organization. July 3, 2014.
9. Web site: International Health Regulations (2005) Monitoring Framework. Global Health Observatory section, World Health Organization. July 3, 2014.
10. Web site: Urban health. https://archive.today/20140706234513/http://www.who.int/entity/gho/urban_health/en/index.html. dead. July 6, 2014. Global Health Observatory section, World Health Organization. July 3, 2014.
11. Web site: Women and Health. Global Health Observatory section, World Health Organization. July 3, 2014.
12. Web site: Noncommunicable diseases. Global Health Observatory section, World Health Organization. July 3, 2014.
13. Web site: World Health Organisation, Global Health Observatory. The Macro Data Guide. July 3, 2014. July 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140703054826/http://www.nsd.uib.no/macrodataguide/set.html?id=48&sub=1. dead.
14. Web site: Global Health Observatory (GHO). OpenHealthNews. July 3, 2014.
15. Web site: Global Health Observatory (GHO). Fondren Library, Rice University. July 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140705134628/http://library.rice.edu/collections/eresources/world-health-organization-statistical-information-system. July 5, 2014. dead.
16. Web site: Global Health Observatory (GHO). https://archive.today/20140706234517/http://thedata.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/dataconnect/faces/study/StudyPage.xhtml?globalId=hdl:1902.1/12516. dead. July 6, 2014. MCH Data Connect Dataverse. July 3, 2014.
17. Web site: The Global Health Observatory (GHO) Home for injury indicators?. Bartolomeos. Kidist. September 19, 2010. July 3, 2014.
18. Global physical activity levels: surveillance progress, pitfalls, and prospects. Hallal. P. C.. Andersen. L. B.. Bull. F.. Guthold. R.. Haskell. W.. Ekelund. U.. 2012. The Lancet. 380. 9838. 247–257. 10.1016/s0140-6736(12)60646-1. 22818937. 11250/170988. 8186207. free.
19. Critical care and the global burden of critical illness in adults. Adhikari. Neill KJ. Fowler. Robert A.. Bhagwanjee. Sathish. Rubenfeld. Gordon D.. 376. 9749. 1339–1346. October 19, 2010. The Lancet. 10.1016/s0140-6736(10)60446-1. 20934212. 7136988.
20. Web site: Data. World Bank. July 3, 2014.