Information to Improve Decision Making for Health

Excerpt

This chapter focuses on the collection and management of public health information, in contrast to clinical information, which concerns individual patient care encounters. Even when aggregated, clinical data are necessary, but not sufficient, to inform efforts to improve the health of populations. While substantial attention has been focused on these facility-based clinical consultations and the health management information system (HMIS) used to track the relevant data, we focus here on the broader health information system (HIS) needed to inform decisions at individual, facility, district, and national levels. Considered here are the routine data collection systems upon which program management, planning, monitoring, and evaluation depend. Information needs for specific tasks, such as for research or for program evaluation, are discussed in the chapters on research (chapters 4 and 7). Other chapters in this volume refer to information needs to enable disease control or to evaluate programs and improve the delivery of interventions. Those interested in these issues should also pay special attention to chapter 53 and chapters 70–73. This chapter bridges the global and the local issues; it makes the case for strengthening the evidence base for action through comprehensive health information systems that include census, vital events, monitoring, public health surveillance, resource tracking, facility-based service statistics, and household surveys.