WHOindex

The WHOindex is a conceptual composite indicator used in health policy analysis to quantify and compare health system performance and population health across countries. It aims to reflect outcomes, access, and financial protection within a single score.

Construction integrates core sub-indicators such as life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, maternal and child mortality, vaccination coverage, access to essential medicines, health workforce density, hospital capacity, and financial protection measures like out-of-pocket costs and catastrophic health expenditure.

Methodology involves normalizing each sub-indicator to a 0–100 scale and aggregating them, typically with equal weights or a transparent weighting scheme determined by expert input. Data are drawn from international sources (WHO, World Bank, UNICEF) and are updated periodically. Uncertainty analyses accompany the score.

Applications include cross-country comparisons, performance benchmarking, and policy evaluation to identify gaps and prioritize reform. It is often used in academic studies and policy discussions, alongside other health indices.

Limitations include data quality and comparability across countries, subjective weighting choices, and potential masking of within-country disparities or differences in care quality. The index should be interpreted with consideration of data limitations and governance context.

History: The concept emerged in academic debates in the 2010s as an effort to synthesize heterogeneous health metrics into a single actionable score; several pilot analyses assessed feasibility with available international data.

See also: Human Development Index; Health Access and Quality Index; Global Health Security Index.