When Bill Gates laid out his foundation’s priorities for the coming year, better measurement of health trends around the world was at the top of the list.

On March 5, Gates and researchers at the University of Washington were set to announce ambitious plans to help achieve that goal with more-frequent updates to global death and disease statistics that used to take a decade or more to compile and analyze.

New results will be issued at least annually, covering 187 countries from Afghanistan to Zambia. Having up-to-date figures will enable nations to track progress and detect emerging problems more quickly, said Chris Murray, director of the UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). read more »