Global health expenditure database
National health accounts unit of the WHO recently launched a new website to disseminate selected data series and indicators on NHA along with related macroeconomic data it has gathered over 10 years on the Member States of the WHO.
The website presents two separate databases
The global health expenditure database that WHO has maintained for the past ten years, provides internationally comparable numbers on national health expenditures. WHO updates the data annually, taking, adjusting and estimating the numbers based on publicly available reports (national health account reports, reports from the Ministry of Finance, Central Bank, National Statistics Offices, public expenditure information and reports from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, etc). The estimates are sent out to the Ministries of Health for validation prior to publication but users are advised that country data may still differ in terms of definitions, data collection methods, population coverage and estimation methods used. This database is the source also for the health expenditure tables in the World Health Statistics Report (WHS 2011) and the WHO Global Health Observatory (GHO)
These are the tables/matrices of general and disease-specific health expenditures as presented in countries' own original national health accounts reports. The data is presented in tabular format and by indicator. For the indicators, the health expenditures are taken from the tables but the denominators (macro variables like GDP and population) are taken from the Global NHA data and indicators.
Both databases allow users to explore the data and build their own tables, charts and maps (select the Database Explorer). They can also use pre-defined report templates to retrieve tables, maps and a range of charts including bubble or motion charts (select Quick Report).
Global Health Expenditure Database Technical Advisory Group (GHED TAG)
The first meeting of the Technical Advisory Group for the Global Health Expenditure Database (GHED TAG) was held in Geneva (March 27 – 29, 2012). The Technical Advisory group is composed of 9 health accounting experts, external to WHO, who will meet twice per year. They are expected to provide technical and strategic advice on data collection and methods of estimation; on the most appropriate ways of presenting and analyzing the data as well as on issues related to the implementation of the recently released System of Health Accounts 2011 (SHA 2011). Themes discussed during the meeting covered methodological issues for collection of data, comprehensiveness of the database, quality control and implementation of the SHA 2011.
For more information please refer to the documents below:
