Updating "us" and "them"

Great TED talk by Hans Rosling, whose work on www.gapminder.org has helped me conceptualize population health around the world in new ways. Here, he explains why the idea of "developed" and "developing" countries fails to capture the complexity of how the world is changing.

He also praises USAID for supporting (financially and technically) the collection of child mortality data internationally and making it available for free online. Without data, it'd be difficult to have any of these conversations or advocate for the expansion of programs that are working. So, while it often seems callous to focus on data collection in the context of people dying from poverty or lack of accessible resources, in the long run there is no substitute for data-informed decision making.

One sees this a bit right now with some of the efforts to promote the collection of patient-level data in HIV facilities in Africa in electronic medical records. Some of the clinics I visited on a recent trip were incredibly understaffed--in one clinic, a mere two NPs and 3 PAs saw 300 patients in an average day, from 9-1, covering all steps from registration including lab, pharmacy, and counseling services. It was difficult for me to justify internally the data requirements put on them by various stakeholders. And yet, when I look at what Dr. Rosling presents here, and think about whether we'll be able to do similar analysis on improvements in combatting HIV, I have to acknowledge that it will require data collection efforts like those being pushed on implementers now. Though, data quality would undoubtedly be higher if dedicated staff were supported. And quality of care data is collected about would undoubtedly be higher with greater clinical resources and support!

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_at_state.html