Improving the measurement of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (Cape Town, South Africa, January 29-30, 2018)
Improving the measurement of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH&N), with a focus on intervention coverage and equity, was a central element in the Countdown to 2015, the precursor to Countdown to 2030, through its technical work, global reports and country case studies. The country case studies used a mixed methods approach guided by a standard evaluation framework to describe and explain progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on child mortality and maternal health. A thorough assessment of maternal and child health service coverage measurement issues carried out as part of the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group and linked with Countdown was published in 2013 as a collection in PLOS Medicine. In 2015, an agenda was developed for the improvement of the measurement of RMNCAH&N interventions with a focus on intervention coverage based on a meeting organized by the Gates Foundation.
Since then, more work has been done to improve the measurement of coverage, quality of care and equity. Efforts are being made to better measure the quality of services and effective coverage. These efforts include work by the Countdown to 2030 technical working groups and several other initiatives and institutions. In addition, more work has been done to better measure drivers of RMNCAH&N including health systems strength, policies and financing. There is also considerably more experience with the use of data sources beyond household surveys for local and national monitoring, such as routine health facility information systems (such as DHIS 2) or rapid and regular surveys (such as the PMA surveys).
Although there has been considerable progress in improving measurement and in introducing innovative data collection methods, huge gaps remain. These gaps need to be addressed in a systematic way which will result in better monitoring in countries at all levels of the health system, in the context of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework and new Global Strategy for Women’s Children’s and Adolescents’ Health.
Countdown to 2030 is a global consortium of academics, international agencies, health care professional associations, governments, non-governmental organizations and other civil society members. Its mission is to strengthen measurement and monitoring of RMNCAH&N, as well as enhance capacity for analysis and use of data in countries. This conference focuses on the measurement agenda, using the extensive Countdown to 2030 network to bring together its technical partners to take stock of where we are and where we need to go to improve measurement of RMNCAH&N.
The objectives of the meeting are to:
- take stock of the current practices, advances and critical issues in RMNCAH&N measurement
- develop a priority research agenda on RMNCAH&N measurement to 2020, including the implications in terms of measurement instruments for countries and for global programs.
The scientific meeting will bring together technical experts working on measurement of RMNCAH&N. This will include members of the Countdown technical working groups, including the technical review group and the working groups on coverage, equity and drivers, as well as the subgroups on nutrition and effective coverage. Additional experts will be invited based on their proposed contributions and expertise.