Each of the articles assigned for this session deal with the current data and methods that we use to analyze the status of global health. The first article focuses on the principle and framework of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) and its attempts to analyze the status of global health in a way that takes into consideration not only deaths, but also morbidity and the quality of life through DALYs. The second article critiques these DALYs, and considers the aspects of DALYs, which have been neglected, such as social context. This is important to consider because if the data is not accurate, it will affect how resources are allocated to global health needs. The third article summarizes the progress of the Millenium Goals, and what still needs to be accomplished by 2015; it demonstrates this through collected data. But, perhaps this data is not as reliable as many think it do be. It is likely that many factors, and variables have not been accounted for in current data collection for the GBD. Maybe we should rely on other means of evaluation for the GBD, which are not soley based on numerical data, but rather include interviews and qualitative analyses.

What are the biggest problems with data that is collected today in the field of global health? How do we know that all populations are being accounted for when we evaluate the health status of the world? How can we adjust the way in which we collect data for DALYs?