Household health surveys in developing countries: could more use be made of them in planning?

Existing health information systems in Eastern Africa are basedon findings in patients visiting hospitals and clinics and onroutine administrative data. They do not reflect the healthsituation and the health care of the underserved, and do not,therefore, generate the information required for planning andprogramming health care for all. Household health surveys arepotentially very useful in filling important information gaps,but past surveys have been poorly adapted to existing healthcare systems; they have been expensive and difficult to replicate,and findings seem to have been rarely used in the planning process.After a brief presentation of current routine reporting, a fewplanning-oriented surveys conducted in Third World countriesare critically reviewed and presented from a planning perspective.It is concluded that household health surveys can be usefulcomponents of health information systems and could be used moreextensively. However, it is important to involve local healthplanners/managers in developing the survey design and the implementationplan, to keep costs at a replicable level and to estimate andreport survey utility and costs.