“Countries must be able to measure progress to make progress,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Particularly during Covid-19, reliable data is the best way to coordinate response efforts and improve health in all areas.”

As such, and in partnership with the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative, WHO has launched the SCORE [Survey, Count, Optimise, Review, Enable] Technical Package, which includes more than 90 universally accepted tools and standards for health information systems strengthening, and will help governments around the world set benchmarks and improve standards in healthcare.

“Using data to inform public health priorities and strategies has never been more important,” said Dr Kelly Henning, Director of Public Health Programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “The SCORE Technical Package provides country governments around the world with high-quality, essential technical guidance so that countries can strengthen their own data systems.”

SCORE’s initial release will include two documents: one giving an overview of health information systems, underlying elements, and indicators to assess progress with sample actions; and the other detailing tools and standards, including resources to address critical health data gaps and strengthen country health data. Future components of the SCORE Technical Package are due to be released later this year, including the SCORE Assessment Instrument and global, regional and country status reports.

“We must keep score to save lives. WHO is committed to working with countries and partners to rapidly scale up capacity for data collection and use in order to improve policy and performance,” said Dr Samira Asma, Assistant Director-General for Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact at WHO. “We must act now to invest in statistical systems in countries, respond to this pandemic and meet the SDGs and the Triple Billion targets. Our window of opportunity is closing, and we cannot wait to address data gaps. Data use to address country needs has to be a priority today.”