World Health Statistics 2007

This annual edition presents the most recent statistics of over 50 health indicators for WHO's 193 Member States. It includes an expanded set of core statistics and a section with 10 highlights in global health statistics for the past year. This book has been collated from publications and databases of WHO's technical programmes and regional offices. The core set of indicators was selected on the basis of relevance for global health, availability and quality of data, and accuracy and comparability of estimates. The statistics for the indicators are based on an interactive process of data collection, compilation, quality assessment, and estimation between WHO technical programmes and its Member States. In this process, WHO strives to maximize accessibility, accuracy, comparability, and transparency of country health statistics. In addition to national statistics, this publication presents statistics on the distribution of selected health outcomes and interventions within countries, disaggregated by gender, age, urban/rural setting, wealth/assets, and educational level. Such statistics are primarily derived from the analysis of household surveys and are only available for a limited number of countries.