| 1 | Good vital registration |
| 2 | Alternative source |
| 3 | no nationally representative data |
| 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 |
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Quality of data sources for maternal death (2015)
What does it mean ?
This indicator reflects coding for the source of maternal mortality data. As defined by the WHO, a value of '1' reflects good vital registration, '2' reflects other reliable source, and '3' reflects no nationally representative data.
Why does it matter ?
Part of the challenge in decreasing maternal mortality is accurately knowing when and where maternal deaths occur. This data is collected at the country level, with various sources of data between countries, including national vital registration, other reliable sources such as Demographic and Health Surveys, or no nationally representative data. This indicator reflects where such nationally representative data exist or don't exist. Until we know where all maternal deaths are occurring, we cannot make progress in reducing them.
How is it collected ?
These categories come from the World Health Organization's Trends in Maternal Mortality report. Group 1 indicates country estimates based on good civil registration data; Group 2 indicates modelled country estimates using available national data; and Group 3 indicates modelled country estimates where no national data are available on maternal mortality.
WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and World Bank (2014). Trends in Maternal Mortality 1990 – 2013
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
