What is LiST?

The Lives Saved Tool (LiST) is computer-based application for modeling the impact of maternal and child health interventions. To estimate maternal, child, or stillbirth outcomes in a projection, LiST models changing coverage for a wide range of maternal and child health interventions over time combined with inputs from the following: 1) DemProj, the demography module, provides demographic information for the projection; 2) AIM (AIDS Impact Module), incorporates the impact of HIV/AIDS and trends in HIV/AIDS treatment; and 3) FamPlan incorporates determinants of fertility into the projection.

LiST is based on the initial work of the Bellagio Child Survival Study Group, the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG), and the International Child Development Steering Group. Their work has sought to further specify the global burden of disease for neonates and children under five years of age both by region and by cause, and to identify and assess those interventions that will be the most effective in increasing child survival and developmental potential. This work has been published in The Lancet's global health series on child survival, neonatal survival, maternal survival, and infant and young child nutrition.

LiST allows for detailed editing of projection inputs such as: intervention coverage by year, baseline health status, child and maternal mortality rates, stillbirth or abortion information, economic status data, effectiveness of interventions, and the impact of undernutrition on mortality. Subnational projections for LiST may be created by making modifications to related components in LiST as well as DemProj, AIM, and FamPlan.

The LiST module is a work in progress that is continuously adapting to meet the needs of users in countries, institutions, and partner organizations. LiST has been used for global planning, project planning, and project evaluation purposes. In addition to updates for nutrition indicators and interventions, the components for maternal health and stillbirths and the ability to link to an external costing module are now included.

Please visit www.LivesSavedTool.org for further information and resources.