Dr. Daniel Cobos Muñoz, PhD, MD, MSc

Dr. Daniel Cobos Muñoz is a Medical Doctor specialized in Family and Community Medicine, with a Master’s Degree in Public Health in Developing Countries, and a PhD in Public Health. He is a health system researcher with a focus on the application of systems thinking tools and methods to unpack the inherent complexity of public health challenges. He has extensive experience in the application of discrete event modelling among other methods to analyze the behavior of health systems in LMICs. He is the principal investigators of a number of projects focused on the application o system thinking methods to to tackle health system challenges in LMICs. He is also the co-lead of the European Hub of the System Thisnking Accelerator (SYSTAC) aiming to create a global community for systems thinkers to engage, connect and collaborate to elevate the field of systems thinking to improve health and leave no one behind.

He is the Chair of the World Health Organization (WHO) Reference Group for Verbal Autopsy (VARG) and he is a member of the WHO Reference Group on Health Statistics (WHO RGHS). He has led the systems analysis of civil registration and vital statistics in more than 25 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America using discrete event modelling. His research has led to the development of globally accepted standards such as the “Ten CRVS milestones” to understand and intervene in CRVS systems in LMICs. He has conducted a number of studies looking at the quality of mortality statistics with a focus on gender base violence and road traffic deaths.

Professional activities at Swiss TPH

• Project Leader Systems thinking for health
• Teaching MBA International Health and other post-graduate programes
• PhD and MSc supervision

Higher education and qualifications

• PhD in Public Health, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain. Title "Decentralisation on health systems: systematic review of the literature and case study in Equatorial Guinea"
• 2011-2012 MSc International Public Health (former Public health in Developing Countries), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
• 2005-2006 Magister Humanitarian Medicine: Health interventions in humanitarian aid, Instituto Complutense de Estudios Internacionales, Spain
• 2004-2005 Extended Diploma in Health and Development, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
• 2003-2006 Specialist in Family and Community Medicine, Madrid Health System, Spain

Adair T, Rajasekhar M, Bo K.S, Hart J, Kwa V, Mukut M.A.A, Reeve M, Richards N, Ronderos-Torres M, de Savigny D, Cobos Muñoz D, Lopez A.D. Where there is no hospital: improving the notification of community deaths. BMC Med. 2020;18:65. DOI: 10.1186/s12916-020-01524-x

Cobos Muñoz D, de Savigny D, Sorchik R, Bo K.S, Hart J, Kwa V, Ngomituje X, Richards N, Lopez A.D. Better data for better outcomes: the importance of process mapping and management in CRVS systems. BMC Med. 2020;18:67. DOI: 10.1186/s12916-020-01522-z

Karim A, Cobos Muñoz D, Mäusezahl D, de Savigny D. A systems approach to assessing complexity in health interventions: an effectiveness decay model for integrated community case management. Glob Health Action. 2020;13:1794106. DOI: 10.1080/16549716.2020.1794106

Karim A, Cobos Muñoz D, Mäusezahl D, de Savigny D. Thematic areas and complexity of integrated community case management (iCCM) design, implementation, and evaluation: protocol for a scoping review. Syst Rev. 2020;9:205. DOI: 10.1186/s13643-020-01454-y

Abakar M.F, Seli D, Lechthaler F, Schelling E, Tran N, Zinsstag J, Cobos Muñoz D. Vaccine hesitancy among mobile pastoralists in Chad: a qualitative study. Int J Equity Health. 2018;17(1):167. DOI: 10.1186/s12939-018-0873-2

AbouZahr C, Bratschi M.W, Cobos Muñoz D, Santon R, Richard N, Riley I, Setel P. How can we accelerate progress on civil registration and vital statistics? [Editorial]. Bull World Health Organ. 2018;96(4):226-226A. DOI: 10.2471/BLT.18.211086

Cobos Muñoz D, Abouzahr C, de Savigny D. The ‘Ten CRVS Milestones’ framework for understanding civil registration and vital statistics systems [Commentary]. BMJ Glob Health. 2018;3:e000673. DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000673

Cobos Muñoz D, Merino Amador P, Monzon Llamas L, Martinez Hernandez D, Santos Sancho J.M. Decentralization of health systems in low and middle income countries: a systematic review. Int J Public Health. 2017;62(2):219-229. DOI: 10.1007/s00038-016-0872-2

de Savigny D, Riley I, Chandramohan D, Odhiambo F, Nichols E, Notzon S, AbouZahr C, Mitra R, Cobos Muñoz D, Firth S, Maire N, Sankoh O, Bronson G, Setel P, Byass P, Jakob R, Boerma T, Lopez A.D. Integrating community-based verbal autopsy into civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS): system-level considerations. Glob Health Action. 2017;10(1):1272882. DOI: 10.1080/16549716.2017.1272882

Cobos Muñoz D, Hansen K.S, Terris-Prestholt F, Cianci F, Perez-Lu J.E, Lama A, Garcia P.J. Matching comprehensive health insurance reimbursements to their real costs: the case of antenatal care visits in a region of Peru. Cost Eff Resour Alloc. 2015;13:16. DOI: 10.1186/s12962-015-0042-z

Cobos Muñoz D, Monzón Llamas L, Bosch-Capblanch X. Exposing concerns about vaccination in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Int J Public Health. 2015;60(7):767-780. DOI: 10.1007/s00038-015-0715-6

Goodman C, Cianci F, Cobos D, Tougher S, Hanson K. Assessing the cost of private sector act subsidies-the financial and economic costs of the affordable medicines facility-malaria (AMFm) in three African countries. Am J Trop Med Hyg, 2014;91(5 Suppl. 1):482-483