OData API

OData standardizes the verbs of data access - filtering, paging, selecting fields - so any client can interrogate a compliant endpoint predictably, and responses come back as JSON.

In this slice the protocol is WHO's distribution backbone. The Global Health Observatory data repository advertises '3,000+ health indicators for 194 Member States ... queryable through a public OData API', with tags including 'odata-api' and JSON listed among data formats. A second surface, who-data-portal-data-who-int, offers 'downloadable CSVs behind a public OData relay API, built on the World Health Data Hub'. Specific holdings ride the same rails: the tobacco legacy repository ships formats labeled 'JSON (OData)', and the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2023 lists 'odata_api' among its formats. Licensing terms_notes state the GHO OData API 'is offered as a public query interface without a stated separate license'.

A public OData endpoint turns indicator retrieval into parameterized URLs instead of file hunting, which is what keeps a multi-country health dashboard refreshable.

The consequence of not checking is silent scope error. 'Queryable through a public OData API' does not mean every one of the 3,000+ GHO indicators is current, or that a given report's underlying tables are exposed at all - some WHO products list OData as 1 format among several. And because terms_notes flag no separate license for the GHO interface, redistribution rights rest on the umbrella WHO copyright position rather than an explicit open grant. Buyers should therefore confirm both the endpoint's coverage and the license footing before building scheduled pulls, or risk an automated pipeline with unclear commercial rights.

1. Probe the endpoint publicly. Both WHO surfaces are described as public - the GHO query API and the data.who.int relay - so test unauthenticated calls before budgeting for keys.

1. Count the indicators. GHO covers '3,000+ health indicators for 194 Member States'; hold any mirror to that floor.

1. Check the response format. Tags show 'odata-api' with json in data_formats; the tobacco legacy repository ships 'JSON (OData)' specifically.

1. Ask about license terms. WHO's terms_notes say the GHO OData API has 'no stated separate license' - clarify reuse rights separately from access.

1. Prefer the relay for bulk CSVs. data.who.int pairs downloadable CSVs with its OData relay, useful when a job needs files rather than filtered queries.

OData sits in a family of standardized query interfaces; these neighbors cover the adjacent protocols and licensing questions.

• health-indicator-series
• imaging-equipment-density
• official-api
• api rate limit
• commercial delivery terms commercial delivery terms dedication