Note that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established a significant number of health- based performance indicators (such as under-five mortality rate, maternal mortality rates, and HIV and malaria rates) that may be of use in the selection of KPIs. The key concept embedded within the health MDGs
is the notion of rate (that is, changes in the level, over time), of some measurable performance indicator. Due to the complexity of objectively demonstrating that rate changes (positive or negative) have occurred, it is important to have as good a baseline health assessment as possible. However, it is easier to obtain this information at a country or large regional level than for small populations where the number of measured “events” is small and variable over the standard time period (one year). One highly reliable source of country- level data is the Demographic Health Surveys (DHS), which are performed in many countries every four to five years. Unfortunately, these data are never presented (disaggregated) below a provincial or regional level, due to sample-size issues. Therefore, any project should carefully consider how to choose a realistic suite of KPIs.