We’re assessing our progress in improving health

As resources for tackling HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other global health challenges have grown, so has the need for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to measure the impact of interventions. Effective M&E is essential to:

• Provide funders with evidence that their investments are improving programs and health.
• Compare cost-effectiveness of interventions.
• Allocate resources most effectively.

At PATH, we are working to identify and track indicators to assess our performance in advancing health technologies, strengthening systems, and encouraging healthy behaviors. Over time, we expect our M&E efforts to help us:

• Link PATH’s work to specific improvements in health.
• Boost the effectiveness of our programs.

First up: tracking technologies

PATH has evaluated the short-term success of projects for many years (for examples, read more about the impact of our Japanese Encephalitis Project and the Meningitis Vaccine Project). Now, to get a fuller picture of the performance of our organization as a whole over time, we are developing “cross-program indicators”—measurable steps toward interventions that improve health.

So far, evaluation of our work to advance technologies has moved most rapidly. Here, our ultimate goal is to measure long-term progress in improving access to lifesaving health technologies. To begin, we chose indicators that measure advancement through PATH’s product-development process. One of the indicators, for example, tracks progress in validating products by noting the completion of clinical trials or testing.

Using data to accelerate impact

After collecting data on cross-program indicators, PATH project teams use an online tool to enter results, which are aggregated by phase of development. A team developing a malaria vaccine, for example, reports completion of clinical trials with children in Mozambique. This result is aggregated with data from other teams conducting clinical trials of other products.

In the short term, we are using the results of our work to analyze PATH’s interventions strategy. Over time, we’ll use the data to better understand and accelerate the impact of our projects by:

• Linking our work to specific improvements in access to health products and technologies.
• Informing PATH’s investments in areas with potential to accelerate the use of new or underused technologies.
• Identifying areas where our programs might work together effectively.
• Capturing best practices that we can share and scale up.

Focus on good stewardship of funds

PATH’s M&E efforts align with a larger push by the global health community to improve transparency, accountability, and stewardship of the funds entrusted to us. Sustaining the high level of funding we need to meet the world’s greatest health challenges depends on how well we can measure impact and communicate the results to those who support us.