IHME Impact Institute for health metrics and evaluation
Issue 5 / MAY 2012
beneath the surface Inside this issue
2 The Director’s View Dr. Christopher Murray describes IHME’s progress as the Institute approaches its fifth anniversary
4 Deep Dive IHME’s Global Health Data Exchange, the GHDx, eases the “search” burden on researchers
5 Connections IHME shares groundbreaking research with international partners, wins academic and community awards
7 Innovations Research by IHME reveals the latest trends in countries’ health financing, malaria deaths, and impact of noncommunicable diseases
8 Ripple Effect IHME joins a major initiative to improve access to high-quality health care in Latin America
IHME consults with countries around the world as Global Burden of Disease study nears conclusion They were a roomful of experts and not easily impressed. Researchers and policymakers at the oldest public health organization in the world – the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Washington, DC – gathered in January 2012 to hear Dr. Christopher Murray. The Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) was there to discuss the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2010 Study (GBD 2010 Study). The reaction was immediate and effusive. “Two words. Impressive and exquisite. Really state of the art,” one senior PAHO official said. “This was a splendid presentation. You really have made a lot of improvements in the methods,” said a researcher who had been following GBD since the first iteration in 1996. They were amazed at the rigor of the science behind the GBD and energized by the possibilities for making the study even stronger. For hours after the presentation, Dr. Murray talked with PAHO leaders and staff about new data sources, new factors to consider in the analysis, and the need for ongoing collaboration.
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Discussions like this have been happening around the world as the GBD 2010 Study reaches its conclusion. IHME and its collaborators at Harvard University, the World Health Organization (WHO), the University of Queensland, and Johns Hopkins University are meeting with government officials and
Photo courtesy of PAHO
Christopher Murray, IHME Director, visited PAHO headquarters in January 2012 in Washington, DC, in consultation about the GBD 2010 Study.
researchers to test the work against prior assumptions and to engage in discussions about the GBD’s implications. Launched in the spring of 2007, the GBD 2010 Study is the most comprehensive effort since the GBD 1990 Study to produce comparable estimates of the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors. It is generating new estimates for the years 1990, 2005, and 2010. The GBD 2010 Study is significantly broader in scope than previous versions, including: • More than 220 conditions and injuries • More than 40 risk factors • More than 230 sequelae (nonfatal health consequences) • 800 collaborators worldwide
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