Abstract
BackgroundPolicy making in healthcare requires reliable and local data. Different sources of coverage data for health interventions can be utilized to populate the Lives Saved Tool (LiST), a commonly used policy-planning tool for women and children’s health. We have evaluated four existing sources of antenatal care data in Palestine to discuss the implications of their use in LiST.MethodsWe identified all intervention coverage and health status indicators around the antenatal period that could be used to populate LiST. These indicators were calculated from 1) routine reported data, 2) a Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), 3) paper-based antenatal records and 4) the eRegistry (an electronic health information system) for public clinics in the West Bank, Palestine for the most recent year available. We scaled coverage of each indicator to 90%, in public clinics only, and compared this to a no-change scenario for a seven-year period.ResultsEight intervention coverage and health status indicators needed to populate the antenatal section of LiST could be calculated from both paper-based antenatal records and the eRegistry. Only two could be calculated from routine reports and three from a national survey. Maternal lives saved over seven years ranged from 5 to 39, with percent reduction in the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) ranging from 1 to 6%. Pre-eclampsia management accounted for 25 to 100% of these lives saved.ConclusionsThe choice of data source for antenatal indicators will affect policy-based decisions when used to populate LiST. Although all data sources have their purpose, clinical data collected directly in an electronic registry during antenatal contacts may provide the most reliable and complete data to populate currently unavailable but needed indicators around specific antenatal care interventions.
Highlights
Policy making in healthcare requires reliable and local data
Indicators for the Lives Saved Tool We identified all coverage and health status indicators needed to fully model antenatal care in the Lives Saved Tool (LiST)
Data to indicators The coverage and health status indicators available for input in LiST are presented in Table 1 along with the exact definitions and calculations for each data source
Summary
Different sources of coverage data for health interventions can be utilized to populate the Lives Saved Tool (LiST), a commonly used policy-planning tool for women and children’s health. High quality data can be used at different points in the policy planning cycle, including for informing discussions as well as projecting the impacts of potential decisions, both of which are commonplace activities. The Lives Saved Tool (LiST) is a policy planning tool which utilizes information on the current health status of a country to Friberg et al BMC Public Health (2019) 19:124 project the health (mortality) implications of implementing specific health interventions for women or children [5]. As for any policy setting process, high quality data is required to ensure that the results are accurate enough for usability [9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
