4.3 KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE PROCESS OF EVALUATING HEALTH INDICATORS
The evaluation of health indicators should, insofar as possible, include the key stakeholders involved in the production, analysis, and interpretation of data and information. These persons should be familiar with the processes involved in monitoring local, regional, and national trends and conditions. Notably, most health data and information are generated at the local level by local health workers who are more knowledgeable about the characteristics, strengths, and limitations of the data and the derived information. Accordingly, whenever possible, it is desirable for local-level personnel to participate in the first phase of the evaluation process. Data producers, managers, and users should promote a culture that values information and is conducive to data collection and its management. Ongoing training initiatives on data collection, management, evaluation, and analysis are very important to improve national capacities, especially at the local level.
As mentioned earlier, the quality of indicators depends, to a large extent, on the quality of the data and its sources. All major stakeholders, including data producers and managers of information systems, should be encouraged to play the role of users and critics so that they can be knowledgeable of the strengths and weaknesses of the system. Health information systems that cannot provide the underpinnings for decision-making in health contribute to a waste of scarce resources and the paucity of reliable information in the health sector. An efficient health information system generates products that are of increasing value to improvements in health care. The continuous need for quality health information is a strong motivator for strengthening and using national health information systems as well as for providing feedback about any limitation inherent in these systems.
Since the health sector is influenced by a wide range of factors, many of which fall outside the health care delivery sector, collaboration with the non-health sectors, such as in other government entities, universities, and research centers is important. Some of the core interests of the non-health sectors require defining, developing, analyzing, and using health indicators. As such, inter-sectoral collaboration will improve and optimize the quality and relevance of health indicators as well as promote evidence-informed decisions across all sectors.