Measuring the health status of a population: current state of the art

The Global Strategy for Health for All by the Year 2000 by the World Health Organization has revived interest in looking for objective measures of the health status of a given population. According to the WHO definition, health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. This paper attempts to survey existing and proposed health indicators, including mortality and survival, growth and development, and morbidity and disability; and discusses problems associated with them. It concludes that mortality statistics are likely to retain their central place in the evaluation of health progress. With respect to health indicators, problems arise, among other things, from the awareness that health is the continuum between death and and complete health and also that health tends to become more and a matter of social perception and behavioral patterns. Caution and patience are advised in the search for internationally comparable health indicators that are feasible, objective and useful.