Health Equity Assessment Toolkit Plus (HEAT Plus): software for exploring and comparing health inequalities using uploaded datasets

ABSTRACT

As a key step in advancing the sustainable development goals, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has placed emphasis on building capacity for measuring and monitoring health inequalities. A number of resources have been developed, including the Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT), a software application that facilitates the assessment of within-country health inequalities. Following user demand, an Upload Database Edition of HEAT, HEAT Plus, was developed. Launched in July 2017, HEAT Plus allows users to upload their own databases and assess inequalities at the global, national or subnational level for a range of (health) indicators and dimensions of inequality. The software is open-source, operates on Windows and Macintosh platforms and is readily available for download from the WHO website. The flexibility of HEAT Plus makes it a suitable tool for both global and national inequality assessments. Further developments will include interactive graphs, maps and translation into different languages.

KEYWORDS:

• Health equity
• health inequality
• software application
• summary measures of inequality
• equity monitoring

Responsible Editor Nawi Ng, Umeå University, Sweden

Special Issue Monitoring Health Inequality in Indonesia

Responsible Editor Nawi Ng, Umeå University, Sweden

Special Issue Monitoring Health Inequality in Indonesia

Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to participants in a health inequality monitoring workshop in Indonesia and others who reviewed HEAT Plus and provided valuable feedback and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this publication, and they do not necessarily represent the views, decisions or policies of their institutions.

Ethics and consent

Not applicable.

Paper context

In order to attain the Sustainable Development Goals, the World Health Organisation has developed an Upload Database Edition of the Health Equity Assessment Toolkit, a software application that enables the assessment of within-country inequalities in health or beyond. HEAT Plus is open-source and freely available for download from the WHO website. The software can be used to assess inequalities using data from a variety of data sources, for any indicator (health or beyond) and dimension of inequality, following a simple set of preparatory steps. This tool has value for both global and national inequality assessments.

Additional information

Funding

DN is supported by a Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Intermediate Fellowship in Public Health.

Notes on contributors

Ahmad Reza Hosseinpoor

AH and AS conceptualised the toolkit and coordinated its development. ZR developed the application. AH outlined the manuscript. AS and DN wrote the first draft with inputs from AH. Authors read the draft and provided critical comments. All co-authors meet the ICMJE criteria for authorship, and have read and approved the final manuscript.