| Description |
Version 2.1 September 2013
SARA is designed as a systematic survey to assess health facility service delivery. The objective of the survey is to generate reliable and regular information on service delivery including service availability, such as the availability of key human and infrastructure resources, and on the readiness of health facilities to provide basic health-care interventions relating to family planning, child health services, basic and comprehensive obstetric care, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and noncommunicable diseases.
The SARA survey generates a set of tracer indicators of service availability and readiness that can be used to:
• detect change and measure progress in health system strengthening over time;
• plan and monitor the scale-up of interventions that are key to achieving the MDGs, such as implementing interventions to reduce child and maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and to respond to the increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases;
• generate the evidence base to feed into country annual health reviews, to better inform the development of annual operational plans and to guide more effective country and partner investments;
• support national planners in planning and managing health systems (e.g. assessing equitable and appropriate distribution of services, human resources and availability of medicines and supplies).
Key outputs from SARA form the basis for national and subnational monitoring systems of general service availability and readiness, and service-specific readiness (maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, noncommunicable diseases, surgical care, etc.). SARA products include a regularly updated national database of public and private facilities, and an analytical report of core indicators to assess and monitor availability of health services and readiness to provide services.
The SARA survey generates a set of tracer indicators of service availability and readiness that can be used to:
• detect change and measure progress in health system strengthening over time;
• plan and monitor the scale-up of interventions that are key to achieving the MDGs, such as implementing interventions to reduce child and maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and to respond to the increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases;
• generate the evidence base to feed into country annual health reviews, to better inform the development of annual operational plans and to guide more effective country and partner investments;
• support national planners in planning and managing health systems (e.g. assessing equitable and appropriate distribution of services, human resources and availability of medicines and supplies).
Key outputs from SARA form the basis for national and subnational monitoring systems of general service availability and readiness, and service-specific readiness (maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, noncommunicable diseases, surgical care, etc.). SARA products include a regularly updated national database of public and private facilities, and an analytical report of core indicators to assess and monitor availability of health services and readiness to provide services.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY SERVICE AVAILABILITY AND READINESS ASSESSMENT (SARA)
• What is the availability of basic packages of essential health services offered by public and private health facilities?
• Is there an adequate level of qualified staff?
• Are resources and support systems available to assure a certain quality of services?
• How well prepared are facilities to provide high-priority services such as reproductive health services, maternal and child health services, and infectious disease diagnosis and treatment (e.g. HIV, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis and malaria)?
• Are facilities ready to respond to the increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses in the delivery of key services at health-care facilities? |
