[Ip-health] Wall Street Journal: Gates Grant Targets Health Gauges Gift of $105 Million Is Made to Measure

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

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The new institute will be headed by Christopher Murray, a professor at
the University of Washington, who previously served as director of a
public-health program at Harvard University and as an official at the
World Health Organization. The institute's missions will include
collecting and analyzing data on health trends, such as the prevalence
of major diseases and the availability of health services, as well as
conducting independent evaluations of the effectiveness of health
programs.

<SNIP>

The institute will have an oversight board of independent directors
headed by Julio Frenk, Mexico's former minister of health, as well as
an advisory panel of scientists. It will have 130 employees within two
years, officials said.

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Gates Grant Targets Health Gauges
Gift of $105 Million
Is Made to Measure
Impact of Programs
By ROBERT A. GUTH
June 5, 2007; Page A8

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given a $105 million grant to
the University of Washington to measure the impact of public-health
programs globally, part of a broader effort by the foundation to better
track private money spent on health.

Under the plan, the 10-year Gates grant will be combined with $20
million from the university to set up and operate the Institute for
Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle.

The new institute will be headed by Christopher Murray, a professor at
the University of Washington, who previously served as director of a
public-health program at Harvard University and as an official at the
World Health Organization. The institute's missions will include
collecting and analyzing data on health trends, such as the prevalence
of major diseases and the availability of health services, as well as
conducting independent evaluations of the effectiveness of health
programs.

The plan reflects the Gates foundation's strategy of using statistical
measures to determine the effectiveness of its grant-giving. The
institute will disseminate the information it gathers about global
health issues, programs and giving, officials said.

Institute officials pointed to the dearth of available statistics in
global health, contrasting that to business, which runs on clear
results. "It would seem strange that we would need an institute like
this," Dr. Murray said. But in public health, "we're so far behind the
norm in other sectors."

As an example of the institute's possible work, Dr. Murray pointed to
child mortality, which has historically been tricky to measure, he
said. The institute expects to collect census and other data to create
a more accurate understanding on child mortality today, as well as past
and future trends, he said. The institute would cull data and
information from Unicef and government agencies around the world, he
said.

The grant is the second major one given by the Gates foundation to
measure health. In 2005 the foundation donated $50 million to create
the Health Metrics Network with the World Health Organization to fund
programs that generate information on health in developing countries.

It is unclear whether the institute might face resistance from
governments and organizations that would prefer to evade close scrutiny
of their health practices and programs. Tachi Yamada, president of the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Health Program, said the
research isn't designed to be a "public report card" on health-care
programs. Institute officials said they are counting on a recent move
toward more transparency by governments about their health challenges.

The institute will have an oversight board of independent directors
headed by Julio Frenk, Mexico's former minister of health, as well as
an advisory panel of scientists. It will have 130 employees within two
years, officials said.

Write to Robert A. Guth at rob.guth@wsj.com1
   	URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118099405948724225.html

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru@keionline.org