1 Less than $15
2 $15 to $53
3 $54 to $99
4 $100 to $299
5 $300 to $999
6 $1000 or over
7 no data
1 over 30%
2 20% to 29%
3 10% to 19%
4 5% to 9%
5 less than 5%

General Government Expenditure on Health Per Capita expressed in PPP international Dollars

What does it mean ?

This indicator shows how much of the government's own resources are allocated to health per person. It is expressed in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) international dollars. PPP is a hypothetical exchange rate that allows us to compare expenditure across countries while taking into account differences in the cost of living.

Why does it matter ?

This indicator can tell us whether a government spends enough of its own resources on health per person in order to guarantee universal coverage of essential services, particularly for vulnerable groups such as the poor, pregnant women and children. Universal coverage is unlikely to be achieved unless the government allocates sufficient funds to health so that everybody can access the health services they need regardless of their ability to pay. While other funding sources such as donor funds can also make an important contribution to the provision of equitable services, these funds may not be spent according to the country's priorities and may not provide a reliable source of funding in the long-term. There is no consensus on how much funding a government should allocate to health since different countries will have different needs and different contexts. However 54 (PPP) international dollars is often used as a benchmark - for example, this is the minimum amount required to achieve the health MDGs according to the 2010 Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems.

How is it collected ?

The preferred source of data for this indicator is a National Health Account, which is an internationally agreed method for collecting information about all financial flows related to health in a country. Where a recent National Health Account is not available, the WHO's health financing team collects similar information using technical contacts in-country and publicly available documents.

2014 WHO World Health Statistics Report http://apps.who.int/nha/database

Unmet Need for Family Planning

What does it mean ?

This indicator is the percentage of women aged 15-49 (of reproductive age) in marital or consensual unions who do not want any more children or want to delay the birth of their next child for at least two years, but are not using contraception.

Why does it matter ?

Women who are able to practice family planning do better in terms of their socio-economic status, education, empowerment and health. The percentage of women who have an unmet need for family planning can tell us about the reach and quality of a country's healthcare system.

How is it collected ?

A national survey was undertaken in each country from a representative sample of households where women were asked if they would like more children, or to wait to become pregnant again, or have they finished childbearing. Those that could conceive were asked if they used contraception. A woman had an unmet need for contraception if she did not want any more children or wanted to delay her next birth for at least two years, but was not using contraception.

Millenium Development Goals Indicators, United Nations Statistics Division, http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Data.aspx UN STATS Millenium Development Indicator Database 2014 (most recent data 1996 – 2014)