WHO Launches SCORE Technical Package to Improve Global Health Data

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The World Health Organization introduced the SCORE for Health Data Technical Package to improve access to life-saving data and strengthen health information systems, WHO reported. The package includes over 90 universally accepted tools and standards designed to help countries gather reliable health data and measure progress during public health emergencies.

Addressing Global Health Data Gaps During Pandemics

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted an urgent need for reliable data to coordinate emergency responses and direct scarce resources effectively. Many countries currently lack the physical infrastructure to routinely gather health data and the analytical capacity to utilize those figures for actionable public health strategies.

Countries must be able to measure progress to make progress. Particularly during COVID-19, reliable data is the best way to coordinate response efforts and improve health in all areas.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General

Accurate metrics are necessary to understand specific country needs, save lives, and allocate resources where they are required most. The acronym SCORE stands for Survey, Count, Optimize, Review, and Enable. It represents a single, harmonized package meant to help governments set benchmarks and improve healthcare standards.

Bloomberg Philanthropies Partnership and Technical Tools

The initiative is supported by a partnership with the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative. The initial release of the package includes two primary documents: SCORE Essential Interventions and SCORE Tools and Standards.

Using data to inform public health priorities and strategies has never been more important. 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.

Dr Kelly Henning, Director of Public Health Programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies

The tools address critical health data gaps and give nations the resources needed to build resilient data systems. By integrating health data with other sectors, policy-makers can address social determinants of health such as sanitation, nutrition, and pollution to lower the overall burden of disease.

Scaling Up Capacity Before Future Status Reports

WHO officials emphasize that investing in statistical systems is vital to meeting global targets and the Sustainable Development Goals. Future components of the technical package, including an assessment instrument and global status reports, are scheduled for release later this year.

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.

Dr Samira Asma, Assistant Director-General for Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact at WHO