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Mortality Data Accuracy Aligns With Hope

Mortality data accuracy is a cornerstone of pandemic management, and it is a cornerstone of any health issue. COVID data inaccuracy offers tremendous opportunity to improve healthcare epidemiology sustainably. And we can improve only when welcomed into one another's national space and place.  

Mortality accuracy is challenging due to statistical logistics and geopolitics; it is also challenging due to sociocultural considerations. 

We don't really know how each affects accuracy of the mortality data. We don't know the weight of each consideration because we haven't properly assessed them.  

  • We have addressed some solutions for statistical logistics with COVID, such as improving real time data, use of EHR, use of cemetery and cremation data, use of excess death or other metrics, consistency to death definitions and strengthened regional epidemiology. 
  • We have addressed few solutions for geopolitics related to COVID. Most solutions rely on normalizing the experience of a pandemic alongside a world health campaign that unites.  
  • We have addressed no solutions for sociocultural considerations. We should not begin to solve for issues with causes we have not yet analyzed, anyway. 

Numerical metrics are uncomplicated by emotion or imperfect behavior, and thus numerical metrics will never be able to paint these latter two considerations sharply.  

While we await analyses and solutions for geopolitical and sociocultural culprits of inaccurate data, we can tap the compassion that creates successful interpersonal relationships. 

To avoid tangents, let's be frank: Sometimes political figures do not want to appear inept, regardless of the expected failures of a global disaster. Conversely, sometimes those responsible for large populations do not want populations to face problems that have no solutions. 

Countries without access to resources have less solutions available to their populations. And when there are no solutions to offer, those in charge may or may not want to disclose the entirety of a problem. 

We must improve resource distribution to help solve for hope. In this advancement, we can begin an improved interpersonal relationship on behalf of data accuracy ambassadorship. 

We can succeed with interpersonal relationships for best epidemiology; we can aspire toward improved sociocultural understanding. We can do this best by offering hope through resources.

  • Communicate the importance of accurate mortality data, as well as hospitalization data, to country leadership. 
  • Determine any third party analytics that can be offered, or will be used, to assess accuracy. Be upfront on this use, internationally. Evidence of Excess Deaths, evidence with satellites or crematoriums, evidence with successful prediction models should also be disclosed. Rather than back any leadership into a corner, this evidence should be disclosed with honesty over empathetic concern. 
  • Ask for country needs around epidemiology and follow through with resources to support epidemiology. 
  • Ask for country needs with vaccine resources, and follow through with vaccine resources. 
  • Ask for country needs with medical supply and therapeutics, and follow through with these resources. 
  • Ask for a collegial approach to mortality data as the resource follow through continues. 
  • Set data accuracy as a global health operational indicator. If our global healthcare cannot meet the needs of a country during a communicable disease, and if that country chooses not to disclose mortality data because it does not have resources to solve for hope, global healthcare is under-performing. 

Mortality data accuracy is a cornerstone of pandemic management, and it is a cornerstone of any health issue. COVID data inaccuracy offers tremendous opportunity to improve healthcare epidemiology sustainably. And we can improve only when welcomed into one another's national space and place.  

We must improve resource distribution to help solve for hope. In this advancement, we can begin an improved interpersonal relationship on behalf of data accuracy ambassadorship. 

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