2. Health data for spatial analysis

2.1 Health data sources

The main sources of information on the determinants of health status or the health care system are public or private health care organizations (hospitals, pharmacy networks, Ministry of Health, health insurers). These organizations provide data on the healthcare system, on the use of care, and on the consumption of care and medication, at individual level but most often at an aggregated level. The quality of health data collection and management varies from one country to another, and often, particularly in developing countries, from one region to another within the same country: densely populated...