Measurement and Accountability for Health in Bangladesh: A Status Report

Author(s): MEASURE Evaluation

Year: 2016

Abstract:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a global summit—Measurement and Accountability for Results in Health (MA4Health)—at the World Bank’s headquarters, in Washington, DC, in June 2015. There, more than 600 participants from 60 countries, representing development partners, country governments, and civil society organizations, endorsed the Health Measurement and Accountability Roadmap and 5-Point Call to Action. The Call to Action identified a set of priority actions and targets to strengthen data and accountability systems. Two countries had been invited to be co-sponsors of the summit: Bangladesh, because of its readiness to measure progress in health during the post-2015 period, and South Africa, for the high quality of its cause-of-death data, which aid understanding of the national and subnational health situation.

At the summit, Bangladesh agreed to host a follow-on regional conference, and this was held in Dhaka in April 2016. This conference had the following objectives:

• Facilitate the regional and country response to data needs

• Engage with development partners to improve health data systems

• Share and strengthen country-led monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plans

This paper outlines the progress that Bangladesh’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) has made toward the country’s measurement and accountability objectives. We review the health, nutrition, and population (HNP) data system (routine and ad hoc) and identify the financial requirements for strengthening health information system (HIS) and M&E functions for the next five years.