Health+Metric+Network

**Term**: Health Metric Network
**Description**: The Health Metric Network is the first global partnership aimed at strengthening worldwide health information systems and increasing access to healthcare information and objectives. It was started in May of 2005 during the 58th session of the World Health Assembly. HMN has a network of partners who engage in work which demonstrates how accurate and reliable information leads to better decision making and result in better health results.

The full HMN informational flyer can be viewed here:

Some of the benchmarks and accomplishments of HMN as listed on their website are as follows:
 * Production of the //HMN Framework and standards for country health information systems//, adopted at the World Health Assembly (2007).
 * Utilization of the //HMN Framework// by over 85 countries in six regions to improve health by using better health information. Nearly 70% of low and lower-middle income countries are following processes compatible with the //HMN Framework// to strengthen their health information systems.
 * Adoption of the //HMN Framework// by the World Bank, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, USAID, United States Centers for Disease Control, and African Development Bank.
 * Improvements in health information systems, associated with the use of the //HMN Framework//, in terms of lives and money saved, and cost effectiveness. Tracking and documentation of over US $500 million associated with the improvements of country health information systems.
 * Stimulation of new leadership in assisting countries to use health and population information to improve the quality of health care, to improve health status and to save lives.
 * Adoption of a Call to Action at the HMN co-sponsored first Global Health Information Forum (2010), bringing together over 76 countries.
 * Financing for use by countries to strengthen their health information systems.
 * A successful global advocacy campaign undertaken with //The Lancet// on the monitoring of vital events.

__Contact Information__ Health Metrics Network World Health Organization Avenue Appia 20 1211 Geneva Switzerland healthmetrics@who.int

**Applications**: The Health Metric Network supports countries in implementing HIS and increasing knowledge about global public goods. HMN uses a three-tiered approach to strengthen HIS:
 * Create a harmonized framework for country HIS development (the HMN Framework) which describes standards for country health information systems.
 * Strengthen country HIS by providing technical and catalytic financial support to apply the HMN Framework
 * Ensure access and use of information by local, regional and global constituencies

A complete explanation of this framework system can be found here:

HMN also outlines the countries that are participating in this initiative as well as each countries' healthcare framework and general statistics. This list from their website is below:

__Wave One Countries__ [|Belize], [|Cambodia], [|Ethiopia], [|Sierra Leone], [|Syrian Arab Republic], and [|Zambia]

__Breadth Countries__ [|Afghanistan], [|Albania], [|Angola], [|Armenia], [|Azerbaijan], [|Bangladesh], [|Benin], [|Bhutan], [|Bolivia], [|Burkina Faso], [|Burundi], [|Cameroon], [|China], [|Comoros], [|Congo], [|Côte d'Ivoire], [|El Salvador], [|Eritrea], [|Fiji], [|Gambia], [|Georgia], [|Ghana], [|Guatemala], [|Guinea-Bissau], [|Honduras], [|Indonesia], [|Iran (Islamic Republic of)], [|Kenya], [|Kyrgyzstan], [|Lao People's Democratic Republic], [|Lesotho], [|Malawi], [|Mali], [|Mauritius], [|Republic of Moldova], [|Mongolia], [|Mozambique], [|Myanmar], [|Namibia], [|Nicaragua], [|Nigeria], [|Oman], [|Panama], [|Philippines], [|Rwanda], [|Senegal], [|South Africa], [|Sri Lanka], [|Sudan], [|Suriname], [|Swaziland], [|Tajikistan], [|United Republic of Tanzania], [|Timor-Leste], [|Tonga], [|Tunisia], [|Turkey], [|Uganda], [|Vanuatu], [|Viet Nam], [|Yemen], [|Zanzibar (United Republic of Tanzania)], and [|Zimbabwe]

**Web Resources**:

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 1. International //Network// for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health in Developing Countries []
 * Related Terminology: **

2. United States Agency for International Development []  3. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation []

 **Citations/References**:

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 * WHO
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">WHA