Estimates of global health indicators—which give insight into death and disease rates, document advances in development, and help policymakers monitor progress—are absolutely essential for improving global health. Estimates, however, are always imperfect and are sometimes fiercely debated. Recently, new players from academia have entered the game of global health estimation, once the chief domain of United Nations agencies such as WHO. This has created some controversy but also an opportunity to reflect. In November 2010, PLoS Medicine published a cluster of six articles from a series of experts that provide insights and opinion on what estimates mean for global health and how to move forward with better data, measurement, coordination, and leadership. The cluster includes the perspectives of WHO, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), and stakeholders from low- and middle-income countries, as well as the PLoS Medicine Editors.
Image Credit: D. Sharon Pruitt
Editorial
Can We Count on Global Health Estimates?
PLOS Medicine: published November 30, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001002
Essays
The Imperfect World of Global Health Estimates
PLOS Medicine: published November 30, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001006
WHO and Global Health Monitoring: The Way Forward
PLOS Medicine: published November 30, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000373
Production and Analysis of Health Indicators: The Role of Academia
PLOS Medicine: published November 30, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001004
Global Health Estimates: Stronger Collaboration Needed with Low- and Middle-Income Countries
PLOS Medicine: published November 30, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001005
A Call for Responsible Estimation of Global Health
PLOS Medicine: published November 30, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001003
Why Do Evaluations of eHealth Programs Fail? An Alternative Set of Guiding Principles
PLOS Medicine: published November 2, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000360
Perspectives
Doctors and Drug Companies: Still Cozy after All These Years
PLOS Medicine: published November 2, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000359
Related Articles
Which Path to Universal Health Coverage? Perspectives on the World Health Report 2010
PLOS Medicine: published November 22, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001001
Policy Forums
Hygiene, Sanitation, and Water: Forgotten Foundations of Health
PLOS Medicine: published November 9, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000367
Water Supply and Health
PLOS Medicine: published November 9, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000361
Sanitation and Health
PLOS Medicine: published November 16, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000363
Hygiene, Sanitation, and Water: What Needs to Be Done?
PLOS Medicine: published November 16, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000365
Combining Domestic and Foreign Investment to Expand Tuberculosis Control in China
PLOS Medicine: published November 23, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000371
Defining Research to Improve Health Systems
PLOS Medicine: published November 16, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001000
Research Articles
Colorectal Cancer Screening for Average-Risk North Americans: An Economic Evaluation
PLOS Medicine: published November 23, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000370
Related Articles
Efficacy of Oseltamivir-Zanamivir Combination Compared to Each Monotherapy for Seasonal Influenza: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial
PLOS Medicine: published November 2, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000362
Related Articles
Road Trauma in Teenage Male Youth with Childhood Disruptive Behavior Disorders: A Population Based Analysis
PLOS Medicine: published November 16, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000369
Prescription Medicines and the Risk of Road Traffic Crashes: A French Registry-Based Study
PLOS Medicine: published November 16, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000366
Air Pollution and the Microvasculature: A Cross-Sectional Assessment of In Vivo Retinal Images in the Population-Based Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)
PLOS Medicine: published November 30, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000372
Strategies for Increasing Recruitment to Randomised Controlled Trials: Systematic Review
PLOS Medicine: published November 9, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000368