Statement on the launch of World Health Organization’s SCORE Global Report:
Vital Strategies is proud to have aided in the development of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recently released SCORE Technical Package, which highlights a critical step forward in understanding the state of countries’ health data systems and provides governments with standards and the tools needed to identify health priorities and inform policies. Our team contributed to the framework of the package and provided technical support to outline interventions and recommendations governments can implement to improve their health data systems.
“Actionable insights are the invisible threads that connect health data to lifesaving action. Without accurate and robust health data, governments are constrained in defining priorities and policies—an issue underscored in the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for timely data continues to increase, yet many country health data systems are insufficiently resourced. SCORE is an invaluable resource offering governments a clear assessment of the current status of health information systems, and a roadmap to build even more effective systems,” said Dr. Adam Karpati, Senior Vice President, Public Health Programs.
“SCORE is one of the most complete comparative assessments of the status of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems. Today, over 40% of deaths worldwide are unregistered and 25% of the births of children under 5 globally have not been registered. For individuals, birth and death certificates are key to unlocking social benefits including education, health care, property inheritance and the right to vote, among others. Improved registration across the life course is particularly important for women, creating a framework for addressing some gender inequalities. With the SCORE report governments are better equipped to ensure that everyone is counted, and that high-quality data are available to policymakers,” said Dr. Philip Setel, Vice President, Civil Registration and Vital Statistics.
“This report provides a global assessment on the capacity of health data systems that can serve as a signpost for countries seeking to benchmark and improve their health data systems. SCORE is an invaluable resource for governments to understand the components of an effective data system – including not just data collection but the use of data for decision making—which also functions as a standard that can be applied across countries,” said Dr. Ruxana Jina, Director, Data Impact Program.
Vital Strategies will use this resource to help governments identify ways that their data use can be strengthened to enhance public health policymaking, including through the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative.
To learn more about our work, please visit: https://www.vitalstrategies.org/programs/data-for-health/
About the SCORE for Health Data Technical Package
SCORE (Survey, Count, Optimize, Review, Enable) is a technical package of essential interventions, recommended actions, tools and resources that aims to support countries in addressing challenges and meeting health information system needs. It represents – in a single, harmonized package – all the key elements to enable governments to address data gaps, invest in scalable solutions, and take informed policy action. SCORE addresses WHO’s commitment in the Thirteenth General Programme of Work - https://www.who.int/about/what-we-do/thirteenth-general-programme-of-work-2019—2023 to support Member States in the effective collection, analysis, reporting and use of health data to achieve health-related SDGs.
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies is a global health organization that believes every person should be protected by a strong public health system. We work with governments and civil society in 73 countries to design and implement evidence-based strategies that tackle their most pressing public health problems. Our goal is to see governments adopt promising interventions at scale as rapidly as possible.
To find out more, please visit vstrategystage.wpengine.com or Twitter @VitalStrat.
The Data for Health Initiative is a global effort supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It provides technical assistance and grants to governments in low- and middle-income countries worldwide to improve public health data systems including civil registration and vital statistics systems; cancer registries; and data-driven policymaking and decision-making processes. Vital Strategies serves as an implementing partner.