Professor Joseph Valadez

Chair in Global Health

While a staff member of The World Bank, Joe Valadez was the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for the Global HIV/AIDS Programme and the Malaria Booster Program for Africa, and provided M&E support to other areas of health sector.

He is a community epidemiologist who has worked in more than 50 countries, including Kenya, where he was Director of Projects for the African Medical and Research Foundation and Rwanda where he served as Senior Health Officer for UNICEF immediately after the genocide. There he helped the new Rwandan government develop a Ministry of Health and addressed priority health problems during their crisis period.

He has deep practical experience in planning and managing national and sub-national health programs throughout Africa, Latin America, and South and Central Asia. 

As an epidemiologist he has advanced the development of rapid and practical programme monitoring and evaluation techniques that adapt quality control statistics as used in industry, for application in community health programmes. 

He pioneered the Lot Quality Assurance Sampling method during the mid-1980s while a member of the Harvard faculty. LQAS is now used internationally and recently LQAS has been integrated with cluster sampling for applications in large countries.

Professor Valadez has also been prescient in using epidemiological methods to expedite Health Facility Assessments for quality control of the treatment of sick children, and patients receiving antiretroviral therapy. He is interested in developing Programme M&E techniques that empower local managers to manage their programmes by using results. Currently he is working to successfully develop a tool kit for Programme M&E that local Public Health Officers can use to identify which interventions are priorities and need improvement.

Currently, he is supporting the Government of the Republic of South Sudan establish its national informatics systems. He has been working throughout the South Sudan's 10 states since 2006.  He also supports the governments of Bihar and Odisha States in India to implement LQAS methods for monitoring their malaria and maternal and child health programs.

In Uganda he support DFID to evaluate the impact of Results Based Financing in the Acholi and Lango sub-regions, and USAID to institutionalize LQAS nationally. He also supports UNICEF to roll out LQAS methodology throughout sub-Saharan Africa to support its programme for integrated community case management, and to assess the effectiveness of Child Health Days. 

He has authored 5 books including Assessing Child Survival Programs in Developing Countries: Testing Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (Harvard Press, 1991), and Monitoring and Evaluation Social Programs in Developing Countries (The World Bank, 1994). 

 Research Grants (as of May 2018)

Grants (As of May 2018):

  1. £731,451 (2017) DFID: Monitoring, Evaluation and Operational Research (MEOR)
  2. $94,474 (2017) UNICEF: Niger. Assessments of preventive nutrition interventions in 17 municipalities and support data use for policy making
  3. $199,825 (2017) World Vision: Wrote a planning manual for global use of LQAS in World Vision Offices
  4. $5,898,591 (2009-2018): Support to the Government of South Sudan (through the World Bank) to develop the national Monitoring and Evaluation System (Sept 2017-Feb 2018)
  5. $433,868  (2015): UNICEF—support child health and nutrition programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. (2015-2016)
  6. $1,738,603 (2015-2018):Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, India to assess the validity and reliability of the government of Bihar’s M&E systems for MNCH programs and to develop hybrid prevalence estimation.
  7. $345,062: UNICEF Niger  and Sudan to assess the effectiveness of child health days (2015)
  8. £88,628: Developing LQAS for assessing the quality and use of health services in refugee camps in South Sudan. Donor: Humanitarian Innovation Fund 2015
  9. £998,969 (2012-2016)Support DFID for operations research of Results Based Financing (Acholi-Lango sub-Regions Uganda.

10.$1,241,446 (2011-2016, UNICEF Uganda) The Community and District Empowerment for Scale up (CODES) to reduce child mortality by improved local health system governance in Uganda.

11.$854,803.36: (2011-2012) Support UNICEF Headquarters develop a rapid monitoring and evaluation system to assess priority programs (e.g., Integrated Community Case Management, EPI).

12.$50,000: (2008-2010) Support the World Bank to develop decentralized monitoring and evaluation systems for malaria, child and maternal health projects in Nigeria, Benin, Lesotho and India.

13.€1 million: (2009-2011: Supports Government of Libya develop its first national HIV/AIDS strategy, and measure HIV seroprevalence in Hard To Reach Populations. (European Commission)

14.£500,000: (2010-2012 DFID) Support Government of India establish M&E systems for decentralized diagnosis and treatment of malaria in Orissa State

15.£1.5 million: (2009-2011 DFID)Support Government of Zimbabwe establish rapid monitoring systems for assessing maternal and new born health care and CBD performance (2009-11, DFID)

16.$3 million: (2009-2013 USAID) Support Government of Uganda institutionalise a national M&E system for HIV/AIDS programme monitoring using the LQAS method

Recent publications: 

    Selected publications

    • Carmen Maroto-Camino, Pilar Hernandez-Pastor, Naomi Awaca, Lebon Safari, Janet Hemingway, Marilia Massangaie, Donald Whitson, Caroline Jeffery, Joseph J Valadez. Improved assessment of mass drug administration and health district management performance to eliminate lymphatic filariasis. PLoS NTDs (In Press)

      Caroline Jeffery, Marcello Pagano, Janet Hemingway, Joseph J Valadez. Hybrid prevalence estimation: a method to improve intervention coverage estimations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018, Dec 5, doi 10.1073/pnas.1810287115.

      Elizabeth Harding, Colin Beckworth, Richard L. Lako, J.J. Valadez.  Using lot quality assurance sampling to assess access to water, sanitation and hygiene services in a refugee camp setting in South Sudan: a feasibility study. BMC Public Health, 2017, 17: 643.

      Jerald Hage and J. J. Valadez.  Institutionalizing and Sustaining Social Change in Ugandan Health Care: An organizational learning analysis. Health Policy and Planning, 2017, 1–8.

      Daniel A Sprague, Caroline Jeffery, Nadine Crossland, Thomas A House, Gareth Roberts, Joseph Ouma, Stephen K. Lwanga, J.J. Valadez. Understanding delivery practices of Ugandan mothers past, present and future:  A cross-sectional and longitudinal study in multiple districts, Emerg Themes Epidemiol, 13, 9, 2016.

      Colin A Beckworth, Robert Anguyo, Francis Cranmer Kyakulaga, Joseph J Valadez. Can local staff reliably assess their own programs? A confirmatory test-retest study of Lot Quality Assurance Sampling data collectors in two districts in Uganda. BMC Health Serv Res, 16, 396, 2016.

      Musabe, R., Katusiime, M., Sinabulya, Z., Mucunguzi, S., Mbonye, A. K. & Valadez, J. J. 2016. Empowering districts to target priorities for improving child health service in Uganda using change management and rapid assessment methods. Glob Health Action, 9, 30983.

      J.J. Valadez, Sima Berendes, Richard Lako, Simon Gould, Susan Milner. Finding the gap: measuring local disparities in coverage of maternal, newborn, and child health services in South Sudan using lot quality assurance sampling. Tropical Medicine and International Health, November  2015, doi, 10.1111/tmi.12613.

      Nadine Crossland, Wilbur C Hadden, Joseph Valadez, Caroline Jeffery. Sexual and reproductive health services of Ugandan youths: changes from 2003-04 to 2012. Journal of Adolescent Health. October 2015 doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.06.015

      Caroline Jeffery, Colin Beckworth, Wilbur C. Hadden, Joseph Ouma, Stephen K. Lwanga, Joseph J. Valadez.  Associations with HIV testing in Uganda: An analysis of the Lot Quality Assurance Sampling database 2003 – 2012.  AIDS Care, November 2015.

      Sarah Anoke, Paul Mwai, Caroline Jeffery, Joseph J. Valadez, Marcello Pagano.  Comparing two survey methods of measuring health related indicators: Lot Quality Assurance Sampling and Demographic Health Surveys.  Tropical Medicine and International Health, November 2015.

      Ayobami Olanrewaju, Caroline Jeffery, Nadine Crossland, Joseph J. Valadez. Evaluating Access to Education among Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Uganda using the Lot Quality Assurance Sampling Method. PLoS One, 2015, 10(7), e0132905. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0132905

      Sima Berendes,  Richard L. Lako, Donald Whitson, Simon Gould, J.J.Valadez. Assessing the quality of care in a fragile state: South Sudan’s first rapid health facility assessment. Trop Med Int Health, 2015, 19(10), 1237-1248. doi:10.1111/tmi.12363.

      Joseph J. Valadez, Caroline Jeffery, Rosemary Davis, Joseph Ouma, Steven K. Lwanga, and Sarah Moxon. Putting the C Back into the ABCs: A Multi-Year, Multi-Region Investigation of Condom Use by Ugandan Youths 2003-2010. PLoS ONE, 2014, Vol 9, Issue 4, e93083.

      Valadez JJ, B Devkota, Akshay Dhariwal, GS Sonal, MM Pradhan, R Davis.  Fighting malaria in India by improving district programmes: Assessing the impact of Lot Quality Assurance Sampling on programme outcomes. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 19(10), 1226-1236. 2014.

      Casey Olives,  J.J. Valadez and Marcello Pagano.  Estimation after classification using lot quality assurance sampling: corrections for curtailed sampling with application to evaluating polio vaccination campaigns. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 2014.

      Colin Beckworth and J.J. Valadez. Can health workers reliably assess their own work?  A test-retest study of bias amongst data collectors conducting a Lot Quality Assurance Sampling survey in Pallisa District, Uganda. Health Policy and Planning, 2014, 1–6.

      Hund L, Northrop-Clewes CA, Nazario R, Suleymanova D, Mirzoyan L, Irisova M, Pagano M, Valadez JJ.  A Novel Approach to Evaluating the Iron and Folate Status of Women of Reproductive Age in Uzbekistan after 3 years of Flour Fortification with Micronutrients. PLoS One November 2013, Volume 8, Issue 11, e79726.

      Bethany L. Hedt, Casey Olives, Marcello Pagano, Joseph J. Valadez (2008) Large Country-Lot Quality Assurance Sampling: A New Method for Rapid Monitoring and Evaluation of Health, Nutrition and Population Programs at Sub-National Levels Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) Discussion Paper, The World Bank

      Susan Robertson and J.J. Valadez.”Global review of health care surveys using lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS), 1984-2004.” Social Science and Medicine, 63, 2006: 1648-1660. 

      N. A. Vollmer and Valadez, J.J. “A Psychological Epidemiology of People Seeking Counseling for HIV/AIDS in Kenya: An Approach for Improving Counselor Training.”  AIDS, 1999, 13: 1557-1567 

      Valadez, J.J. and Leisa Weld: “Maternal Recall Error of Her Child's Vaccination Status in a Developing Country.” American Journal of Public Health. January 1992.