Introduction ：The World Health Statistics series is WHO’s annual compilation of health-related data for its 194 Member States,and includes a summary of the progress made towardsachieving the health-related Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) and associated targets. This year, it alsoincludes highlight summaries on the topics of reducingthe health gaps between the world’s most-advantagedand least-advantaged countries, and on current trends inofficial development assistance (ODA) for health.The series is produced by the WHO Department of Health Statistics and Information Systems of the Health Systems and Innovation Cluster. As in previous years, World Health Statistics 2013 has been compiled using publications and databases produced and maintained by WHO technical programmes and regional offices. A number of demographic and socioeconomic statistics have also been derived from databases maintained by a range of other organizations. These include the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the United Nations Educational, Sci-entific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank.Indicators have been included on the basis of their relevance to global public health; the availability and quality of the data; and the reliability and comparability of the resulting estimates. Taken together, these indica-tors provide a comprehensive summary of the current status of national health and health systems in the fol-lowing nine areas:life expectancy and mortality cause-specific mortality and morbidity selected infectious diseases health service coverage risk factors health systems health expenditure health inequities demographic and socioeconomic statisticsThe estimates given in this report are derived from mul-tiple sources, depending on each indicator and on the availability and quality of data. In many countries, statis-tical 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.Because of the weakness of the underlying empirical data in many countries, a number of the indicators pre-sented 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 avail-able through online WHO databases such as the Global Health Observatory.1While every effort has been made to maximize the com-parability 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-detailed information on indicator metadata is available in the WHO Indicator and Measurement Registry.2WHO presents World Health Statistics 2013 as an in-tegral part of its ongoing efforts to provide enhancedaccess to comparable high-quality statistics on core measures of population health and national health sys-tems. Unless otherwise stated, all estimates have been cleared following consultation with Member States and are published here as official WHO figures. 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 meth-odologies.
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