Health indicator

A health indicator which will be used internationally to describe global health should have the following characteristics: • It should be defined in such a way that it can be measured uniformly internationally. • It must have statistical validity. • The indicator must be data which can feasibly be collected in a reasonable amount of time. • The analysis of the data must result in a recommendation on which people can make changes to improve health ==Health indicator examples==

• This is not a comprehensive list of health indicators. Health status • Life expectancy at birth • Number of years a newborn is expected to live based on current mortality trends. • Infant mortality rate • Number of women who die due to pregnancy or birth complications per 100,000 births in a year. Risk factors • Alcohol consumption • Smoking in adults • Physical exercise habits • Condom use • Obesity rate • Asthma rate • High blood pressure rate • Air pollution levels • Exclusive breastfeeding rate • Number of mothers who only feed their infants breast milk for the first 6 months of life per a unit of measurement. • Child stunting rate • Number of children who have a low height for their age (more than two standard deviations below the international reference) due to poor nutrition per a unit of measurement. • Child wasting rate • Number of children who have a low weight for their height (more than two standard deviations below the international reference) due to poor nutrition per a unit of measurement. Health systems • Healthcare coverage • Number of people with some type of health care coverage/insurance per unit of measurement. • Hospital beds per capita • Doctors per capita • Nurses per capita • Hospital readmission rates • Health expenditure as percentage of GDP • Percentage of a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) used toward healthcare. • People with HIV aware of their status • Breast cancer screening rate • Birth registration rate • Number of people with a government- verified birth certificate per unit of measurement. • Death registration rate • Number of people with a government- verified death certificate per unit of measurement. == Applications ==

Health indicators are commonly used to make large-scale or community health-related decisions. By describing the current health of a population, the areas that need improvement become evident, and policy-makers and health professionals can work to fill these gaps. Once interventions are put in place to try to improve the health of a population, health indicators can then be used to evaluate the success of the intervention. They are also used by smaller-scale community health organizations, hospitals, and other medical and public health organizations such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC), National Institute of Health (NIH), The African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP), and Global Alliance for Africa. ==References==