The Roadmap for Health Measurement and Accountability

Authored by the Common Road Map Steering Committee of MA4Health, this document "articulates a shared strategic approach to support effective measurement and accountability systems for a country’s health programs." The Roadmap outlines investments that countries can adopt to attempt to strengthen basic measurement systems and to align partners' and donors' common priorities. "It offers a platform for development partners, technical experts, implementers, civil society organizations, and decision makers to work together for health measurement in the post-2015 era. Using inputs and technical papers developed by experts from international and national institutions, the Roadmap was completed following a public consultation that received... contributions from a ...number of agencies and individuals...." The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank Group (WBG), and the World Health Organization (WHO) were responsible for engaging these country experts and partners to develop a shared approach.

The document outlines challenges to improving measurement and accountability, lessons from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that inform the need for measurement and accountability in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the increased need for: civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems; censuses; national household surveys; health facility and community health information systems; disease surveillance; and comprehensive health systems data sources. It discusses system investments and approaches, including e-health, as well as new approaches to health measurement. It suggests as a way forward a country system with one plan and one monitoring and evaluation framework consisting of a "series of information sources with, at the center, a well-trained set of users in the Ministry of Health..." and includes action plan details for countries and for global action, including "global public goods", such as open access software and public-private collaborations, and global progress reviews by country. Implementation plans for investment, operations, and monitoring are described, as well as milestones for 2015-2030.

Contents include:

• Why a Roadmap is Needed 
• New Approaches to Health Measurement 
• The Way Forward 
• Country Action 
• Global Action 
• Implementation Arrangements 
• Critical Path: Milestones for 2015-2030 
• Annex 
• Annex A: Key stakeholders in implementation of the Roadmap 
• Annex B: Risks Analysis for Implementation of the Roadmap