World Health Organization Global Health Observatory

Data Collection Type
Additional collated sources of health information-European/International
Organisation

World Health Organization (WHO).

Web address
https://www.who.int/data/gho
Year established

2009 — however,
historic data is available
from the early 1930s for
certain datasets.

Statement of purpose

To provide easy access to country health data and statistics with a focus on comparable estimates and to WHO’s analyses to monitor global, regional and country situation and trends.

Coverage (geographical and temporal)

The 194 members of the WHO.

2009 to present.

Description/Summary

The Global Health Observatory (GHO) is WHO’s portal providing access to data and analyses for monitoring the global
health situation. It provides critical data and analyses for key health themes, as well as direct access to the full database.
The GHO presents data from all WHO programmes and provides links to supporting information.

Data users

- Academic researchers
- Policy makers
- Students
- Journalists.

Data content

The GHO database
contains an extensive list of indicators, which can be
selected by theme or through multi-dimension query functionality.
It is the WHO’s main health statistics repository.
Core statistical data include the following major categories: demographic and socioeconomic statistics; health service coverage; health systems resources; inequities in healthcare and health outcomes; mortality and burden of disease and risk factors.

Data dictionary

Yes. There is a data dictionary in place.
https://www.who.int/data/gho/indicator-metadata-registry

Equity stratifiers

Yes, equity stratifiers
are in place.
Place of residence, Sex, Wealth Quintiles, Education of mother, age groups.

Data collection methodology

Annual compilation of data from the member states.

Includes a hundred data sets with different modalities of collection (from topic-specific surveys sent to key informants, to household surveys and statistical reports).

Clinical coding scheme

International Classification
of Diseases and Related
Health Problems (ICD) and others.

Size of national collection

Thousands.

Publication frequency

Annual data across several areas, the observatory itself updates
every one to two weeks.

Accessing data

Via a web browser at
https://www.who.int/data/gho
and via an Application Programming Interface (API) at https://www.who.int/data/gho/info/gho-odata-api

Open data portal access

No.

Email contact
gho_info@who.int
Other comments

Please come back to us in a year or two, as the WHO digital ecosystem is being improved.