UNITED NATIONSECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFICSTATISTICAL INSTITUTE FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC (SIAP)
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)Concept Note
Health Statistics for Monitoring Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) - 2022
(e-Learning course)
4 July – 12 August 2022
1.

Introduction

Timely, reliable, and comparable health statistics are fundamental to monitoring the healthstatus of the population and for developing, implementing, and evaluating health policies
and practices that address health and health care. With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development, the need for high-quality data for the over 50 health andhealth-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators has increased. The
COVID-19 has impacted the health and well-being of populations all over the world andfurther underscored the need for real-time, good quality, disaggregated data to track health.
Nonetheless, for many countries, limited statistical capacity continues to pose a major
challenge for monitoring the health and health-related SDGs. The objective of this eLearning course is to address this issue by providing a general understanding of the basic
concept, methods and framework required to compile and monitor the health and healthrelated indicators.
This course is being organized by the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and thePacific (UNSIAP), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO).

2.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will:(a) Comprehend the key concepts, definitions, methodologies and data sources forhealth statistics, according to international standards.
(b) Understand how to compile and monitor health and health-related SDG indicators(c) Acquire a sound understanding of the data quality issues and challenges incompiling health statistics

(d) Describe the key measures of population health status, including those related tomortality, fertility; and those used to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

3.

Target Participants

Target participants are staff of national statistical offices and other relevant line ministries
working on issues related to producing or using health statistics. Users of health statistics
and those interested in learning more about health statistics and how they are produced arealso encouraged to take the course. Familiarity with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development would be helpful.

4.

Course design and content

The course is comprised of five modules. Each module consists of interactive slides withexplanations. The modules are designed to provide essential concepts and tools which
ultimately leads to building capacity for the compilation of health statistics and indicators.
The content of the modules are as follows:
Modules

Coverage Introduction
 Health data sources Health classifications and standards
 Quality of health statistics
2. Bridging the supply and The supply and demand gap for health data
demand gap in health statistics  Good practices in the use of health statistics
 Interpreting health statistics
 Connecting health data to policy
3. Measuring health statistics
 Basic metrics for measuring health outcomes Measuring fertility
 Measuring mortality
4. Monitoring health-related Ensuring comparability
SDG indicators
 Guidelines for reporting health statistics
 Selected health-related SDG indicators (Indicators
3.b.1, 3.1.1,3.3.2,3.7.2, 3.9.2, 3.5.2, 3.c.1, 5.2.1)
5. Health statistics for measuring  Understanding the COVID-19 pandemic
the impact of COVID-19 Basic metrics for measuring COVID-19
 Measuring COVID-19 related mortality
 Communication, interpretation and use of COVID-19
data
1. What is health statistics?

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Each module can be completed in an average of 60 minutes. After all modules have been
completed, participants will be required to complete a final test that will cover all modules.
The e-Learning course will be self-administered and will be is hosted on SIAP Learning
Management System (LMS). It will also feature a forum for general questions, substantive
discussion, and interactions with other participants and staff of the organizing agencies.

5.

Webinars

There will be three (3) expert-led webinars to supplement the e-Learning course. The firstwebinar will cover the topics from Modules 1 and 2. The second webinar will cover thetopics from Modules 3 and 4. The third and final webinar will focus on Module 5 and be
centered around topics related to COVID-19 pandemic. Dates and further instruction on
joining the webinars will be communicated separately via email.

6.

Evaluation

Participants’ understanding of the material will be assessed throughout the course throughthe integrated assessments in each interactive lesson. Upon completion of all 5 modules,participants will be required to: (i) take a final test and must receive a grade of 70 percent
or higher in the test; and (ii) complete a course evaluation questionnaire, to receive acertificate. Participants may take the test up to three times and retain their best score.
Participants may not work together on the test. The course facilitator reserves the right todeny course certificates to participants suspected of cheating on the test.

7.

Language

The course will be offered in English.

8.

ReferencesThis course draws upon various sources, including international statistical standards andcase studies from national statistical offices. A list of references used in this course will be
uploaded to and made available to participants through the SIAP Learning Management
System (LMS).

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