Table 1. Health data sources: Situation in countries and required actions.

Data Source	Situation	Required Actions
Surveys	In low- and middle-income countries, household health surveys are the main source of data for monitoring progress towards MDGs (and beyond) including health outcomes, risk factors, coverage, and equity.In spite of progress in harmonization and frequency of international survey programs including DHS, MICS, and some special disease surveys (e.g., HIV, TB, malaria), there is still a need to enhance the availability of comparable data across countries and over time.	• Support development of well-coordinated 10 year national health survey plan, linked to the national health sector plan.• Promote development and implementation of country health-survey plans that take into account the need to monitor core indicators and the availability and quality of data from other sources.• Invest in building survey analytical capacity and data archiving.
Birth and death registration	In recent decades there has been virtually no progress made in improving birth and death registration globally.Only a small minority of developing countries have a functioning system for obtaining data on births, deaths (by age and sex) and causes of death.	• Step up efforts to improve birth and death registration (including cause of death) in countries through increased coordination, technical support, and funding by relevant stakeholders.• Promote a clear strategy with tools for countries with no functioning systems.
Census	Most countries are planning to conduct a census in the 2010 round.There remain major gaps in technical support for subsequent data cleaning, analysis, projections, and dissemination.	• Promote and provide support to the 2010 census round, including data analysis, projections, dissemination.• Strengthen statistical offices' analytical capacity.
Health facility reporting systems and surveillance	Facility-based information systems continue to perform poorly in terms of data quality, timeliness, and use in decision-making.There are exceptions, and several disease-specific information systems have benefited from intensive technical quality control and financial inputs, including those for outbreak disease surveillance, eradication programs (for example against polio), tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and immunization coverage.	• Identify the core information needs and appropriate incentives for the improved reporting of results at local, national, and global levels, and for improved data quality and timeliness, supported by the introduction of information technology.• Support independent district and facility assessments.
Administrative systems	Data on health financing, human resources, and infrastructure are still too poor to monitor basic information on the inputs of the health system.	• Promote regular National Health Accounts (NHAs) and improved systems to monitor expenditure.• Develop comprehensive, district-based monitoring systems for service delivery and workforce.