Guides: SOCI 111 / HSOC 111: Health of Populations Course Guide: Data Sources

Large International Databases

World DataBank
Demographic, social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators from the World Bank's principal data source, on more than 200 countries and 18 country groups, 1960-present.
Global Health Observatory Data
The World Health Organization's main health statistics repository. Covers 1990-.
Millennium Development Goals Indicators
Data measuring progress toward the United Nation's development goals, including those related to maternal health, child mortality, malaria, and HIV/AIDS, by country 1990-the present.
WHO Global Infobase
Country-level statistics for non-communicable diseases, by age groups.

General Social Survey
Omnibus personal interview survey of U.S. households, conducted almost annually. Available for online analysis using SDA.
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Tracks health risks in the United States via telephone survey since 1984.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
Monitors six types of health-risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among youth and adults in the United States.

Polling the Nations
Primary data, fulltext for approximately 250,000 individual questions and aggregated responses, often cross tabulated by respondent characteristics, compiled from public opinion surveys. Topics cover social, health, economic, and political issues at local, state, national, and international levels.

Human Mortality Database
Data on 18 countries. Registration is required but free.

CDC Wonder - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Database of reports, guidelines, and numeric public health data by mortality, natality, disease and demographic groups.

Health Data Interactive
National health statistics for the U.S. Somewhat easier to use than CDC Wonder.
National Vital Statistics System Mortality Data
Information on mortality data on the United States available through the Centers for Disease Control.
World Population Propects
Demographic estimates and projections into the future by country calculated by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Online Databases
A variety of databases on mortality, longevity, and health policy across nations.
WHO Mortality Data
Global Burden of Disease
An effort to quantify the comparative magnitude of health loss to diseases, injuries, and risk factors by age, sex, and geography over time.

Social Explorer
Easy to access maps and tables from 1790-2010 census, plus American Community Survey through 2015. Downloadable in Excel, CSV, SPSS, SAS, and Stata file formats.
Measure DHS
The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) "has collected, analyzed, and disseminated accurate and representative data on population, health, HIV, and nutrition through more than 260 surveys in over 90 countries."
GGP Contextual Database
Demographic, economic, and policy indicators at the national level, and, wherever possible, at the regional level, for GGP countries as well as other countries in Europe, North America.

UNAIDS Data Tools
Includes epidemiological databases and statistics.
SEER: Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results
An authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the United States.

Cancer Mondial (World Cancer Statistics)
Access to information on the occurrence of cancer world-wide held by the Unit of Descriptive Epidemiology at the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

HIV/AIDS Surveillance Data Base
Malaria Atlas Project
Maps and tables on malaria risk and vectors.
Country Trends in Metabolic Risk Factors
BMI, cholesterol, blood pressure, glucose, diabetes.