INTRODUCTION he World Health Statistics series is WHOs annual compilation of health statistics for its 194 Member States orld Health Statistics 2016 focuses on the proposed health and health-related Sustainable Development goals (SDGs)and associated targets. It represents an initial effort to bring together available data on SDg health and health-related indicators In the current absence of official goal-level indicators, summary measures of health such as(healthy) life expectancy are used to provide a general assessment of the situation The series is produced by the WHo Department of Information, Evidence and Research, of the health Systems and Innovation Cluster, in collaboration with all relevant technical departments of WHO. As in previous years, World Health Statistics 2016 has been compiled primarily using publications and databases produced and maintained by who or United Nations groups of which WHO is a member, such as the UN Inter-agency group for Child mortality Estimation(IGME) A number of statistics have been derived from data produced and maintained by other international organizations, such as the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs(UNDESA) and its Population Division Unless otherwise stated, all estimates have been cleared following consultation with Member States and are published here as official WHO figures Where necessary the estimates provided have been derived from multiple sources, depending on each indicator and on the availability and quality of data. In many countries, statistical and health information systems are weak and the underlying empirical data may not be available or may be of poor quality Every effort has been made to ensure the best use of country-reported data - adjusted where necessary to deal with missing values, to correct for known biases, and to maximize the comparability of the statistics across countries and over time. In addition, statistical modelling and other techniques have been used to fill data gaps. However, these best estimates have been derived using standard categories and methods to enhance their cross-national comparability. As a result they should not be regarded as the nationally endorsed statistics of Member States which may have been derived using alternative methodologies Because of the weakness of the underlying empirical data in many countries, a number of the indicators presented here are associated with significant uncertainty It is WHo policy to ensure statistical transparency and to make available to users the methods of estimation and the margins of uncertainty for relevant indicators. However, to ensure readability while covering such a comprehensive range of health topics, printed versions of the world Health Statistics series do not include the margins of uncertainty which are instead made available through online who databases such as the global Health Observatory(GHO) While every effort has been made to maximize the comparability of the statistics across countries and over time, users are advised that country data may differ in terms of the definitions, data-collection methods, population coverage and estimation methods used. More information on indicator metadata is available through the global Health observatory 1TheGlobalHealthObservatory(gho)isWho'SportalprovidingaccesstodataandanalysesformonitoringtheglobalhealthsituationSeehttp://www.whoint/gho/en/ WORLD HEALTH STATISTS: 2016viii WORLD HEALTH STATISTICS: 2016 INTRODUCTION T he World Health Statistics series is WHO’s annual compilation of health statistics for its 194 Member States. World Health Statistics 2016 focuses on the proposed health and health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and associated targets. It represents an initial effort to bring together available data on SDG health and health-related indicators. In the current absence of official goal-level indicators, summary measures of health such as (healthy) life expectancy are used to provide a general assessment of the situation. The series is produced by the WHO Department of Information, Evidence and Research, of the Health Systems and Innovation Cluster, in collaboration with all relevant technical departments of WHO. As in previous years, World Health Statistics 2016 has been compiled primarily using publications and databases produced and maintained by WHO or United Nations groups of which WHO is a member, such as the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (IGME). A number of statistics have been derived from data produced and maintained by other international organizations, such as the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and its Population Division. Unless otherwise stated, all estimates have been cleared following consultation with Member States and are published here as official WHO figures. Where necessary the estimates provided have been derived from multiple sources, depending on each indicator and on the availability and quality of data. In many countries, statistical and health information systems are weak and the underlying empirical data may not be available or may be of poor quality. Every effort has been made to ensure the best use of country-reported data – adjusted where necessary to deal with missing values, to correct for known biases, and to maximize the comparability of the statistics across countries and over time. In addition, statistical modelling and other techniques have been used to fill data gaps. However, these best estimates have been derived using standard categories and methods to enhance their cross-national comparability. As a result, they should not be regarded as the nationally endorsed statistics of Member States which may have been derived using alternative methodologies. Because of the weakness of the underlying empirical data in many countries, a number of the indicators presented here are associated with significant uncertainty. It is WHO policy to ensure statistical transparency and to make available to users the methods of estimation and the margins of uncertainty for relevant indicators. However, to ensure readability while covering such a comprehensive range of health topics, printed versions of the World Health Statistics series do not include the margins of uncertainty which are instead made available through online WHO databases such as the Global Health Observatory (GHO).1 While every effort has been made to maximize the comparability of the statistics across countries and over time, users are advised that country data may differ in terms of the definitions, data-collection methods, population coverage and estimation methods used. More information on indicator metadata is available through the Global Health Observatory. 1 The Global Health Observatory (GHO) is WHO’s portal providing access to data and analyses for monitoring the global health situation. See: http://www.who.int/gho/en/, accessed 16 April 2016