The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched the Health Inequality Data Repository (HIDR), which is the largest collection of data on population health and inequalities to date. The repository contains almost 11 million data points from 59 datasets and 15 data sources, covering over 2,000 population health indicators categorized according to 22 dimensions of inequality. The HIDR aims to track health disparities among populations and improve health outcomes. However, the data has limitations, with many indicators lacking disaggregated data. The WHO encourages countries to adopt routine health inequality monitoring and make disaggregated data publicly available.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently unveiled its Health Inequality Data Repository (HIDR), which is the largest collection of data on population health and inequalities worldwide. The primary goal of the HIDR is to track health disparities among populations and improve health outcomes. The repository has almost 11 million data points, which include metrics for more than 2,000 population health indicators, and they are categorized according to 22 dimensions of inequality such as demographic, geographic, and socioeconomic factors.
The HIDR contains information about various health topics such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, reproductive, maternal, and child health, immunization, nutrition, healthcare, non-communicable diseases, environmental health, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By using the data stored in HIDR, the WHO aims to identify and address significant health inequality patterns and establish efficient interventions.
According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the HIDR is designed as a one-stop-shop for data on health inequality to advance health equity and improve lives. He added that if they are committed to leaving no one behind, they must identify who is being missed and direct services to those who need them most.
However, despite its vast collection of data, the HIDR has some limitations. The repository is made up of publicly available disaggregated data, and it is designed to support health equity by tracking health inequalities among populations over time. Unfortunately, for many health indicators inside the repository, disaggregated data is currently not available, and in such cases where data are available, the majority are simply broken down by sex, age, and location of residence. This limits the conclusions that may be made about certain inequality trends by academics.
Despite these limitations, the HIDR’s data has already highlighted some significant disparities. The data indicate significant inequalities in national COVID-19 responses. In 2021, COVID-19 vaccination coverage among the most educated populations was at least 15 percentage points higher than among the least educated populations in over a third of the 90 countries with data in HIDR.
The WHO released the repository to urge countries to adopt routine health inequality monitoring, make disaggregated population health and health inequality data publicly available, expand data collection, and increase capacity for analysis and reporting. The WHO suggests that analyses should be conducted at the global, national, and subnational levels, with health inequality monitoring incorporated into global and national indicators and targets. The WHO will collaborate with countries and other stakeholders to expand the HIDR each year as part of these efforts.
