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Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators, 2015 (WHO)

by Public Health Update
WHO and partners launch the Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators to improve measurement and accountability for global public health.




This standard set of 100 core indicators agreed by the global community provides concise information on the health situation and trends at the national and global level. The aim is to reduce excessive and duplicative reporting requirements that currently burden countries.

The Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators is a standard set of 100 indicators prioritized by the global community to provide concise information on the health situation and trends, including responses at national and global levels. It will be reviewed and updated periodically as global and country priorities evolve and measurement methods improve. This publication contains the 2015 version.
Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators, 2015
Health status indicators
  • Life expectancy at birth
  • Adult mortality rate between 15 and 60 years of age
  • Under-five mortality rate
  • Infant mortality rate
  • Neonatal mortality rate
  • Stillbirth rate
  • Maternal mortality ratio
  • TB mortality rate
  • AIDS-related mortality rate
  • Malaria mortality rate
  • Mortality between 30 and 70 years of age from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases
  • Suicide rate
  • Mortality rate from road traffic injuries
  • Adolescent fertility rate
  • Total fertility rate
  • New cases of vaccine-preventable diseases
  • New cases of IHR-notifiable diseases and other notifiable diseases
  • HIV incidence rate
  • HIV prevalence rate
  • Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) incidence rate
  • TB incidence rate
  • TB notification rate
  • TB prevalence rate
  • Malaria parasite prevalence among children aged 6–59 months
  • Malaria incidence rate
  • Cancer incidence, by type of cancer
Risk factors indicators
  • Exclusive breastfeeding rate 0–5 months of age
  • Early initiation of breastfeeding
  • Incidence of low birth weight among newborns
  • Children under 5 years who are stunted
  • Children under 5 years who are wasted
  • Anaemia prevalence in children
  • Anaemia prevalence in women of reproductive age
  • Condom use at last sex with high-risk partner
  • Population using safely managed drinking-water services
  • Population using safely managed sanitation services
  • Population using modern fuels for cooking/heating/lighting
  • Air pollution level in cities
  • Total alcohol per capita (age 15+ years) consumption
  • Tobacco use among persons aged 18+ years
  • Children aged under 5 years who are overweight.
  • Overweight and obesity in adults (Also: adolescents)
  • Raised blood pressure among adults
  • Raised blood glucose/diabetes among adults
  • Salt intake
  • Insufficient physical activity in adults (Also: adolescents)
  • Intimate partner violence prevalence

Service coverage indicators

  • Demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods
  • Contraceptive prevalence rate
  • Antenatal care coverage
  • Births attended by skilled health personnel
  • Postpartum care coverage
  • Care-seeking for symptoms of pneumonia
  • Children with diarrhoea receiving oral rehydration solution (ORS)
  • Vitamin A supplementation coverage
  • Immunization coverage rate by vaccine for each vaccine in the national schedule
  • People living with HIV who have been diagnosed
  • Prevention of mother-to-child transmission
  • HIV care coverage
  • Antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage
  • HIV viral load suppression
  • TB preventive therapy for HIV-positive people newly enrolled in HIV care
  • HIV test results for registered new and relapse TB patients
  • HIV-positive new and relapse TB patients on ART during TB treatment
  • TB patients with results for drug susceptibility testing
  • TB case detection rate
  • Second-line treatment coverage among multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases
  • Intermittent preventive therapy for malaria during pregnancy (IPTp)
  • Use of insecticide treated nets (ITNs)
  • Treatment of confirmed malaria cases
  • Indoor residual spraying (IRS) coverage
  • Coverage of preventive chemotherapy for selected neglected tropical diseases
  • Cervical cancer screening
  • Coverage of services
    for severe mental health disorders

Health systems indicators
  • Perioperative mortality rate
  • Obstetric and gynaecological admissions owing to abortion
  • Institutional maternal mortality ratio
  • Maternal death reviews
  • ART retention rate
  • TB treatment success rate
  • Service-specific availability and readiness
  • Service utilization
  • Health service access
  • Hospital bed density
  • Availability of essential medicines and commodities
  • Health worker density and distribution
  • Output training institutions
  • Birth registration coverage
  • Death registration coverage
  • Completeness of reporting by facilities
  • Total current expenditure on health (% of gross domestic product)
  • Current expenditure on health by general government and compulsory schemes (% of current expenditure on health)
  • Out-of-pocket payment for health (% of current expenditure on health)
  • Externally sourced funding (% of current expenditure on health)
  • Total capital expenditure on health (% current + capital expenditure on health)
  • Headcount ratio of catastrophic health expenditure
  • Headcount ratio of impoverishing health expenditure
  • International Health Regulations (IHR) core capacity index



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