TY - JOUR
T1 - Tracking progress towards the Millennium Development Goals
T2 - Reaching consensus on child mortality levels and trends
AU - Hill, Kenneth
AU - Croft, Trevor
AU - Jones, Gareth
AU - Loaiza, Edilberto
AU - Hancioglu, Attila
AU - Walker, Neff
AU - Bakka, Endre
AU - Wardlaw, Tessa
AU - Wilmoth, John
AU - Pelletier, François
AU - Sawyer, Cheryl
AU - Buettner, Thomas
AU - Suzuki, Emi
AU - Bos, Eduard
AU - Inoue, Mie
AU - Shibuya, Kenji
AU - Boerma, Ties
PY - 2006/3
Y1 - 2006/3
N2 - The increased attention to tracking progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), including Goal 4 of reducing child mortality, has drawn attention to a number of interrelated technical, operational and political challenges and to the underlying weaknesses of country health information systems upon which reliable monitoring depends. Assessments of child mortality published in 2005, for almost all low-income countries, are based on an extrapolation of the trends observed during the 1990s, rather than on the empirical data for more recent years. The validity of the extrapolation depends on the quality and quantity of the data used, and many countries lack suitable data. In the long run, it is hoped that vital registration or sample registration systems will be established to monitor vital events in a sustainable way. However, in the short run, tracking child mortality in high-mortality countries will continue to rely on household surveys and extrapolations of historical trends. This will require more collaborative efforts both to collect data through initiatives to strengthen health information systems at the country level, and to harmonize the estimation process. The latter objective requires the continued activity of a coordinating group of international agencies and academics that aims to produce transparent estimates - through the consistent application of an agreed-upon methodology - for monitoring at the international level.
AB - The increased attention to tracking progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), including Goal 4 of reducing child mortality, has drawn attention to a number of interrelated technical, operational and political challenges and to the underlying weaknesses of country health information systems upon which reliable monitoring depends. Assessments of child mortality published in 2005, for almost all low-income countries, are based on an extrapolation of the trends observed during the 1990s, rather than on the empirical data for more recent years. The validity of the extrapolation depends on the quality and quantity of the data used, and many countries lack suitable data. In the long run, it is hoped that vital registration or sample registration systems will be established to monitor vital events in a sustainable way. However, in the short run, tracking child mortality in high-mortality countries will continue to rely on household surveys and extrapolations of historical trends. This will require more collaborative efforts both to collect data through initiatives to strengthen health information systems at the country level, and to harmonize the estimation process. The latter objective requires the continued activity of a coordinating group of international agencies and academics that aims to produce transparent estimates - through the consistent application of an agreed-upon methodology - for monitoring at the international level.
KW - Child mortality/trends
KW - Data collection/methods
KW - Developing countries
KW - Development
KW - Goals
KW - Households
KW - Infant mortality/trends
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33644788474&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33644788474&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2471/BLT.05.029744
DO - 10.2471/BLT.05.029744
M3 - Article
C2 - 16583082
AN - SCOPUS:33644788474
SN - 0042-9686
VL - 84
SP - 225
EP - 232
JO - Bulletin of the World Health Organization
JF - Bulletin of the World Health Organization
IS - 3
ER -