We select data from three
main sources:
- official publications of international
organizations such as United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organization
and Ministries of Health from respective countries.
- scientific journals.
- ·personal contacts, typically scientists who
have conducted surveys and who may have publications that are not widely
available, e.g. doctoral dissertations, internal documents, etc. Such personal
contacts can include you.
All data sources are
identified in the Infobase. To obtain further information about source(s) on
any particular data item, or if you can provide additional, new as well as
corrected data, we would be pleased to hear from you.
Our data
categories include:
The variables included in
Infobase were chosen on the basis of their representativeness and usefulness
in providing a profile of the situation regarding cardiovascular and
cerebrovascular diseases in each country. These data are commonly used and
routinely collected. As the needs and data collection practices change,
Infobase will be updated to reflected the most appropriate and current
situation.
Please see our copyright
notice!
Countries
Listed in Infobase
Whereas Infobase began
with 193 countries with emerging economies, and Canada, all industrialized
countries were added subsequently. Classification of the countries is based on
the World Health Organization (WHO)’s groupings of member states and associate
members, as well as the United Nations’ classification of countries by
development region and geographical area found in their publication entitled
World Population Prospects: The 1994 Revision, New York, United Nations, 1994.
WHO uses classifications given by the United Nations in the World Economic and
Social Survey 1996. The groupings are for analytical purposes and do not have
any official status.
A country is considered
"developed" not only on the basis of its national income but also on the basis
of other aspects of daily living. Factors such as life expectancy, infant
mortality, adult literacy, nutrition, health, shelter, political and civil
rights, gender equality, and others are all considered.
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Population Data
Unless otherwise
specified, population counts for the most recent intercensus year were
obtained from the United Nations Population Division’s The Age and Sex
Distribution of the World Populations: The 1994 Revision. New York, United Nations,
1994. Population estimates and projections are derived from country-specific
latest census information, adjusted for under enumeration, and estimated
subsequent trends of fertility, mortality and migration. Infobase presents
total population projections and population density for 1995 according to the
medium-fertility variants.
Population distribution
data were extracted from the United Nations 1994 Demographic Yearbook,
Forty-Sixth Issue. New York, United Nations, 1996. This variable
represents the percentage of the total population that lives in an urban
setting. The year of the data is indicated in the comments section, which also
includes relevant details concerning methodology.
The United Nations’
publication entitled World Population Prospects: The 1994 Revision. New York, United
Nations, 1994, provides data on population density, population growth, life
expectancy and infant mortality. Projections for 1995-2000 for annual
population growth, infant mortality and life expectancy are also based on the
medium-fertility variant. A complete description of the data sources and
demographic methods is available in the World Population Prospects document,
mentioned above.
Infant mortality estimates
and projections are based on births and deaths in each country, and are
sometimes adjusted for under registration if applicable. In some countries
where reliable data are not available, infant mortality was presumed in
accordance with the national situation, taking into account demographic sample
surveys previously conducted. In some cases, the demographic impact of AIDS
has been factored into the estimate. Life expectancy at birth is based on
country-specific life-tables of registered deaths adjusted for under
registration and underlying population.
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Economic Data
Economic data such as
Gross National Product (GNP) per capita, country rank by GNP, total health
expenditure as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and percentage of
population below poverty, derive from the World Bank’s 1997 World Development
Indicators,
Washington, D.C., 1997 for most countries included in Infobase.
The GNP is defined as "The
unduplicated value of production by country-owned factors of production,
regardless of where it takes place. GNP can be valued either at factor cost or
at market prices." (Statistics Canada, System of National Accounts. National
Economic and Financial Accounts. Quarterly Estimates. Fourth Quarter 1996,
March 1997, Cat. No. 13-001-XPB.) The GNP per capita is converted to US
dollars using the World Bank Atlas method described in World Development
Indicators and is divided by the mid-year population in that country.
Country rank by GNP
classifies countries according to the 1995 GNP per capita in the four
following categories:
| low income: |
$765 or less |
| lower middle income: |
$766-$3035 |
| upper middle income: |
$3036-$9385 |
| high income: |
$9386 and over |
Development is not only a
result of national income but also considers other aspects of daily living.
For more details regarding the definition of a developed country, please refer
to Countries Listed in Infobase.
GDP is defined as "the
unduplicated value of production originating within the boundaries of a
country, regardless of ownership of the factor of production. It can be
calculated three ways, as total incomes earned in current production, as total
final sales of current production, or as total net values added in current
production, and it can be valued either at factor cost or at market prices."
(Statistics
Canada, System of National Accounts. National Economic and Financial Accounts.
Quarterly Estimates. Fourth Quarter 1996, March 1997. Cat. No. 13-001-XPB.)
Total health expenditure, as a percentage of GDP, represents outlays for the
provision of health services, population and nutrition activities, and
emergency aid. It excludes water and sanitation expenditures. Data are
provided for the most recent year available between 1990 and 1995.
The percentage of the
population occupied in agriculture is defined as all persons depending on
agriculture, hunting or forestry for their livelihood. This includes the
economically active as well as their dependants. This information was obtained
from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s
FAOSTAT Database.
The percentage of the
population below the poverty line is defined by the authorities of each
country. The estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates
from household surveys.
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Education Data
Most of the education data
were obtained from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).
In some cases, when data for a country were not available in UNESCO’s
database, the data were extracted from their publication entitled World
Education Report 1993, France, UNESCO Publishing, 1993.
UNESCO (1978) recognizes a
person as literate when he/she "…can engage in all those activities in which
literacy is required for effective functioning of his/her group and community
and also for enabling him/her to continue to use reading, writing and
calculation for his/her own and the community’s development." (Statistics Canada.
Adult Literacy in Canada: Results of a National Study. Cat. No. 89-525E, 1991)
The adult illiteracy rate
represents the percentage of illiterate adults, aged 15 years and over.
The secondary school gross
enrolment represents the total percentage of the population enrolled in
secondary education, regardless of age, and corresponds to the national system
and regulations for this level of education as well as the duration of
schooling for this level of education. (General Note, in UNESCO’s database.)
Some data were obtained
directly from the Ministry of Education in the respective country and are
identified in the Source section.
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Consumption Data
Consumption data for most
countries were obtained from FAO’s
FAOSTAT Database, which are also available on AGROSTAT-PC: FBS Domain
computer disks.
Sugar consumption as total
raw equivalent, is expressed as the per capita consumption in kilograms per
year. These figures actually represent the average per capita supply of sugar
available for the population. They are taken as an approximation to
consumption and do not necessarily indicate individual consumption. Similarly,
total fat consumption is given in grams per day, and daily caloric supply per
capita is the average supply available for the population as a whole.
(Concepts and Definitions used in commodity balances, in FAO’s
FAOSTAT Database).
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Health Services
These data are included in
Infobase to give an overview of relevant health services available in each
country. Data for only a few variables are included to date. Efforts are being
made to complete the missing information as much as possible.
The total number of
hospital beds per 1000 population are given for countries in the Americas. This
information was taken from a document prepared by the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) entitled Health Situations in the Americas: Basic
Indicators.
Correspondence received
from a few countries has provided information on the total number of coronary
care unit beds and the total number of intensive care unit beds.
Data on the total number
of physicians and nurses were obtained for the Americas from PAHO’s
Health Conditions in the Americas, 1994 Edition. Washington, D.C., PAHO:
Scientific Publication No. 549.
Population per physician
and per nurse were provided by the World Bank’s World Development Indicators
1997.
Correspondence with health
authorities in some countries has provided information regarding the total
number of cardiologists, the total number of adult cardiac catheterizations
per year, the total number of angioplasties and of coronary bypass operations
per year. Information was also obtained on cardiovascular societies and heart
foundations, cardiovascular research centres, whether the country has a
national cardiovascular policy or program, and, if applicable, identified the
national coordinator for this policy or program. The
World Heart Federation (formerly The International Society and
Federation of Cardiology) was also helpful in identifying societies and
foundations in many countries.
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Mortality
Mortality data were
obtained from the World Health Organization World Health Statistics Annual,
the 1985 to 1995 editions. The number of deaths are presented, by sex, age and
cause. The WHO receives official national statistics from the appropriate
authorities of each country.
The data are based on the
Ninth Revision of the Manual of the International Statistical Classification
of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death (1975), Geneva, WHO, 1977.
Only countries for which
death registration coverage is deemed reasonably good are included in the WHO
mortality data bank. For this, death registration must be near universal, the
death record must routinely include the cause of death, and death must be
determined by a qualified person according to an internationally recognized
classification. "Comparability of the data is affected by the availability and
training of medical personnel, the availability of diagnostic aids, and other
factors." (Lopez AD. Assessing the burden of mortality from cardiovascular
diseases. World Health Statistics Quarterly. 46(2):91-6, 1993). For more
information regarding the methodology of the mortality data collection and
death registration coverage, please consult the WHO World Health Statistics
Annual 1995.
The country-specific death
rates presented in Infobase are generated using the age-specific numbers of
death and the population data for the year closest to the year of the
mortality data.
The age-standardized rates
are automatically generated using the standard "new world" population based on
the United Nations World Population Prospects 1990, New York, United Nations,
1991, as used by WHO.
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Risk Factors
Prevalence information for
the major risk factors for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases is
included in Infobase. These risk factors include diabetes mellitus,
hypertension, obesity, smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and
lipids. The data sources for risk factors are numerous. The availability of
studies varies from country to country. Priority is given to obtain data from
national prevalence surveys. However, when available, provincial/state or
local prevalence studies are also included.
An effort is made to make
each country profile as complete as possible. The data are presented as they
are given in the data source. For each data source, relevant details on
methodology are given in the "Comments" section if applicable.
The risk factor database
is not exhaustive. We would appreciate receiving any data you might have that
is not currently included in Infobase. Please communicate with us using the
"Contact Us" button in the Main Menu.
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Morbidity
Due to lack of adequate
surveys on the prevalence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in
the general population, collecting morbidity data is especially difficult.
Hospital separations or admissions data are often used to estimate morbidity.
However, this information is limited and does not account for all cases
occurring in the general population. In addition, numerators are often
provided (i.e. numbers of hospitalizations) without clear denominators to
calculate rates. Nevertheless, these data are often collected and may be the
only indication of morbidity. Methodological limitations are acknowledged in
the Comments section.
This section is still
under construction. We welcome any suggestions and comments.
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Copyright
We respect
all copyright entitlements and do not wish to violate anyone's rights. In
abstracting data from all sources we have carefully screened for any
prohibitions and where necessary we have sought to obtain permission. None of
the formats for display of data are intended to replicate or imitate any
pre-existing publications. No tables or graphs have been copied intentionally.
We do acknowledge all data sources, where the user can verify the integrity of
the data we display and obtain additional information.
We are a
non-profit organization and we have no commercial interests with this
endeavour.
Should there
be any questions about possible infringements, we would appreciate being
contacted so that the situation can be rectified immediately.
It is our
hope that data made available in Infobase will be found useful for scientific
purposes as well as to help develop relevant health policies. However, we do
not guarantee the accuracy of the data nor do we assume responsibility for any
consequences resulting from the use of data contained herein.
Map
boundaries are the property of
ESRI Inc. and do not reflect any judgment on our part of the legality of
any boundary. Our designation of WHO Regions and the countries belonging to
each Region is in keeping with the most recent listing, approved by the
General Assembly of World Health Organization, that is available to us.
NOTICE
The contents hereof
contain software covered by Unisys U.S. Patent No. 4,558,302. No rights of any
kind are granted by Unisys to this patent or to the contents hereof, except as
provided by a separate written license agreement from Unisys. Information
concerning a license under this patent may be obtained by contacting:
Welch Licensing Department
Unisys Corporation
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