PSI: News

2004 Health Impact
Reaches New Heights

WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 4, 2005 — PSI has achieved a new level of health impact — 28 million Person Years of Protection (PYPs) in 2004 — that is 44% higher than 2003, according to preliminary data from PSI's 2004 Health Impact Report. The increasing impact of malaria and safe water (with PYPs in 2004 up 120% and 40%, respectively, over 2003) continues to grow faster than any other area.

PYP is an indicator developed by PSI which combines several indices of protection into one aggregate unit estimating the annual protection PSI provides through the sale of its products and services. It allows PSI to compare and analyze results across health sectors.

Person Years of Protection is an indicator developed by PSI which combines several indices of protection into one aggregate unit estimating the annual protection PSI provides through sale of its products and services. Learn more about these indices.

"Once again, PSI has risen to the challenge and increased substantially our health impact even though we changed our measurement criteria in several ways that make it slightly harder to achieve a person year of protection," said PSI President Richard A. Frank. "This organization has always been and will continue to be focused on measurable health impact, which is the most fundamental expression of PSI's mission. In 2005, we will find new ways of increasing that impact while being increasingly rigorous in the means we use to measure it."

Year-end 2004 sales figures show that PSI achieved 28 million PYPs, 44% higher than the 19.4 million achieved in 2003. PYP types that increased over 2003 were Person Years of Malaria Protection (PYMPs), up 120%, Person Years of Treated Water (PYTW), up 40%, CYPs, up 15% and Women of Reproductive Age Years of Supplementation, up 16%. Child Years of Rehydration (CYRH) were down 5%.

Indeed, the figures provide further evidence of the rise in importance of malaria at PSI, an organization that was started 33 years ago solely focused on family planning, as the word "population" in its name would suggest. In 2004, PYMPs (malaria) contributed 40% of PYPs (as compared to 26% in 2003) and CYPs (family planning) contributed 38% (as compared to 48% in 2003).

Other highlights from the year-end 2004 health impact data were:

Total PYPs Over 1 Million: Nigeria, Madagascar, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Pakistan, India, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Top Ten in PYPs Per Capita: Nigeria, Madagascar, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Pakistan, Benin, Guinea, Haiti, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Primary HIV Infections Averted: The leading programs were in Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Côte d'Ivoire and Zambia, ranging from 48,000 to 150,000 infections averted per country.

Malaria Episodes Averted: Malawi, Kenya, the DRC and Madagascar, all exceeding 7 million malaria episodes averted, were the leading countries.

Unintended Pregnancies Averted: Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Zimbabwe and Uganda, all exceeding 250,000 pregnancies averted, were the leading countries.

These preliminary health impact figures will be finalized in the spring.

— David J. Olson, PSI/Washington

• Archives