The national statistical data related to Estonian health and medicine are collected, processed and distributed both nationally and internationally by six medical registries and databases:
- Estonian Medical Birth Registry and Estonian Abortion Registry
- Estonian Causes of Death Registry
- Estonian Cancer Registry
- Estonian Tuberculosis Registry
- Estonian Drug Treatment Database
- Estonian Cancer Screening Registry
Additional sources of data for health statistics are health care providers' reports, collected by our health statistics department; surveys comprising the whole state also provide statistical information.
Collection of reliable and comparable data is necessary for monitoring and analyzing of population's state of health as well as on-going trends, also for conducting of scientific research.
Thereby, collected data are needed for making evidence-based decisions: for planning of preventive work and development of national health policy.