Data Sources

Data Sources

All mental health models in the WHO platform use data from validated international sources. Data is fetched via the unified-api and can be reviewed and edited in the platform's Assumptions page before running analyses.


Data Architecture

The platform uses three types of data sources:

1. Demographic Data (FHDB)

Source: Forecast Health Database (FHDB)

Content:

  • Population counts by age and sex
  • Fertility rates
  • All-cause mortality rates
  • Life expectancy

Provenance: UN Population Division, WHO life tables

Access: Fetched via unified-api data_fetcher_label: "fhdb"

2. Epidemiological Data (Mental Health)

Source: Mental health disease observations database

Content:

  • Prevalence by age, sex, and health state
  • Incidence rates
  • Remission rates
  • Relapse rates
  • Disease-specific mortality

Provenance: Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, published epidemiological studies, clinical trial databases

Access: Fetched via unified-api data_fetcher_label: "mental-health"

3. Cost Data

Source: Multiple sources depending on parameter type

Medicines and Diagnostics: Embedded in scenario JSON files, sourced from WHO-CHOICE, MSH International Medical Products Price Guide, and country-specific procurement data

Workforce Salaries: Static JSON file in platform (public/workforce_salary_by_country.json), sourced from ILO labor statistics and WHO health workforce databases

Facility Visit Costs: Static JSON file in platform (public/visits_by_country.json), sourced from WHO-CHOICE and published costing studies

Access: Static files loaded at app initialization; can optionally be fetched via unified-api data_fetcher_label: "costs"


Epidemiological Data

ParameterSourceDescription
PrevalenceGlobal Burden of Disease (GBD) studyAge and sex-specific prevalence
IncidencePublished epidemiological studiesRates of new cases
RemissionClinical studiesRates at which individuals recover
RelapseLongitudinal studiesRates at which individuals in remission experience recurrence
MortalityMeta-analyses of mortality studiesExcess mortality associated with the condition

Disability Weights

Disability weights are sourced from the Global Burden of Disease study, reflecting the severity of health loss associated with different disease states.

Intervention Efficacy

Data on the effectiveness of various interventions (e.g., psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy) comes from randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses in the scientific literature.


Reviewing Data in the Platform

When you run an analysis, the platform displays all input data on the Assumptions page organized by category:

  1. Demography: Population structure, births, deaths
  2. Epidemiology: Disease rates by age and sex
  3. Intervention Parameters: Coverage, effect sizes
  4. Cost Parameters: Unit costs for all resources

You can click on any value to edit it before running the analysis. Edits apply to both baseline and comparison scenarios unless different parameters are specified in scenario definitions.


Data Viewer

Below is a lightweight, read-only CSV viewer. Use the dropdown below to select model data files to investigate.

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