In response to the need expressed by the countries of the Region of the Americas to monitor and evaluate their Health Sector Reform processes, the Pan American Health Organization//World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), designed in 1999 the Methodological Guidelines for the Preparation of Health Systems Profiles.

In 2005, these Guidelines were updated and expanded to include new conceptual developments in the field of health systems. The Methodological Guidelines are particularly relevant at a time when health systems inadequacies have come under the spotlight, primarily as a result of the increasing recognition that weak health systems impede the achievement of the "Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as other global health goals.

Methodological Guidelines Health Systems Profiles

Lineamientos Metodológicos para elaboración de los Perfiles de los Sistemas de Salud

 Orientações Metodológicas Perfis dos Sistemas de Saúde