Measurable Results
Measuring the results of PSI’s health interventions isn’t as simple as counting lives saved. PSI employs an entire team of researchers to continuously evaluate PSI performance against evidence-based objectives and verifiable indicators. Such strict measurement of PSI performance is what sets the organization apart from others in the field and feeds into the design of innovative, targeted and cost-effective interventions.
What matters is what works. The research developed is the cornerstone of PSI’s evidence-based decision making process, a process which allows PSI to take its health interventions to scale at a level that ensures a significant impact on the health of the populations that PSI serves.
While PSI prides itself on its research and metrics, the organization also understands that it is only one part of a much greater picture. To understand its contribution to the whole, PSI aligns itself with health impact standards outside of the organization. In doing so, it’s able to accurately estimate how many people have been helped by PSI products and services and how many more might still be in need.
In order to ensure that PSI takes the most comprehensive approach to its health interventions, PSI uses an international standard measurement called the DALY, which stands for a disability adjusted life-year. A disability adjusted life-year measures both mortality (the number of years of life lost to an early death) and morbidity (the number of productive years lost when a person is disabled by illness or disease). If PSI averts one DALY, it means that PSI has helped one person live one more year of productive life – a year that, without PSI’s intervention, would have been lost to illness, disease or death.
In 2008, PSI averted 13.97 million DALYs. This incredible figure was achieved by efforts in each health area to prevent new cases of disease from occurring and from preventing death due to disease.
- PSI’s work in malaria prevented nearly 35 million episodes of malaria and 260,441 malaria deaths.
- PSI’s work in diarrheal disease and child survival prevented more than 6 million cases of diarrhea and 9,957 diarrhea deaths.
- PSI’s work in reproductive health prevented more than 3 million unintended pregnancies and 15, 675 maternal deaths.
- PSI’s work in HIV prevented 137,692 HIV infections.
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