Project Syndicate: Putting Public Health on the Map
Christopher J.L. Murray, professor of global health at the University of Washington and director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

“…[The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project] could do more to inform policy debates and spur action to improve health if it were able to provide more detailed breakdowns of data. … To help decision-makers make better use of their data, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which I head, is creating geospatial maps of disease burdens with a groundbreaking level of resolution. … Geospatial maps can pinpoint areas that are making outstanding progress, allowing us to identify communities that have done things differently from their neighbors. These case studies can empower communities to replicate one another’s successes. … As the international community comes together to agree on the tools needed to finance and monitor progress toward the [Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs)] successor framework, the Sustainable Development Goals, geospatial mapping will be critical for tracking progress and indicating where course corrections might be needed…” (10/29).