Health Systems Trust is pleased to present the 12th edition of the District Health Barometer (DHB), which covers 52 districts and includes a total of 47 financial and health indicators, 11 of which are new.
This annual publication provides an overview of the performance of public health services in South Africa and has become an important planning and management resource for health service providers, managers, researchers and policy makers in the country.
The DHB plays an important role in providing information for district mangers to benchmark their districts against the others in the country and in strengthening the use of data for priority setting and decision making. The Barometer is used as the basis for workshops with district managers which provides an opportunity to engage with the data and collaborate with technical experts on how best to use this information for planning.
This edition paints a mixed picture, showing significant gains in some areas while highlighting areas that need further attention.
We urge health service providers, managers, researchers and policy makers to make use of this valuable resource to improve both health outcomes and the quality of services provided to the South African population.
As always, we welcome commentary and feedback which will enable us to improve future editions of this publication.