Global health is the health of the populations of the world. The term global health can be defined as ‘the area of study, research and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide.’
Basically, it means improving the health of the people all over the world. Global health issues include those that transcend borders and are likely to affect political and economical situations globally.
The impact of global health has risen due to globalization which led to increased dependence of countries on each other. There is also greater movement of people across the world with people emigrating and immigrating to different countries.
The increased dependence of countries on each other and large scale cross border movement of human capital means that health issues are no longer country specific; they have become a global issue.
For example, outbreak of Ebola in Africa didn’t confine the virus there; it spread to different parts of the world. Which is why, tackling infectious diseases becomes a global problem to be solved.
There is also the aim of improving lives of people across the world. Global health policies devised by World Health Organization and other philanthropic groups such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation focus on reducing disparity among income groups in access to healthcare, combating child and maternal mortality rates, increasing accessibility to clean water, developing low cost vaccines etc.
Here are some important global health facts you need to know to understand the current global health scenario:
- Infectious diseases are still a looming concern
While the overall rate of deaths from infectious diseases like malaria or tuberculosis has decreased when compared to figures in 2000, the number of deaths from infectious diseases is still high.
In 2015 there were an estimated 212 million malaria cases alone, although this is decrease of 40% when compared to 2000. Tuberculosis still remains a major health problem despite being a curable disease. There were about 10.4 million new TB cases in 2015.
The healthcare situation is getting better but it still varies widely depending on the country. While the European region has improved statistics, the African region is still accounted for 92% of malaria related deaths whereas TB fatality rate was at 20%.
- Maternal mortality rate is high in developing countries
Maternal mortality rate refers to the annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management.
Around the world, about 830 women died everyday in 2015, due to complications during pregnancy or child birth. The global maternal mortality rate was 215 per 100,100 live births.
This is a high number when considering the facts that most of these are avoidable deaths if pregnant women have access to regular and better healthcare. Just the presence of a qualified mid-wife, doctor or nurse could significantly lower the deaths during childbirth.
In 2016, millions of births around the globe were not assisted by a trained medical professional or mid-wife. Apart from that, there is lack of hygiene, advanced medical technologies, prevalence dangerous superstitions – all of which put a woman’s as well as her child’s life at risk.
- Under nutrition is still a problem among children
Lack of proper nutrition is still causing 1/3rd of all deaths in children below 5 years of age. While the overall percentage of death rate caused by under nutrition has declined to 18%, in some regions, it has increased.
One of the causes of increase in malnutrition is the high cost of food prices. Climate change is also interfering with food production with untimely rains or severe long droughts. This has also led to farmers not being able to earn enough.
So rising food prices due to lower food production and falling incomes have led to a surge in children dying as they don’t have access to quality food that could provide them with necessary nutrients.
- Spread of HIV has fallen
There has been a decrease in the spread of HIV thanks to increased awareness about the disease, how it spreads and how to protect against it.
Human Immunodeficiency virus or HIV spreads primarily through unprotected sex although it can also spread through infected needles, blood transfusion and from mother to child during pregnancy.
The number of people reported with HIV in 2013 was 2.1 million, which was lower compared to 3.4 million people in 2001.
- Access to safe drinking water has increased
The percentage of people having access to improved and safe drinking water increased from 77% to 87%. Access to clean drinking water could prevent nearly 10% of all global diseases and 6.3% of all deaths.
The target set by WHO for increasing access to safe drinking water was met in 2010; however, the African region was unable to meet its goal Another region falling short of the target was Eastern Mediterranean region.
90% of the people getting access to clean water were urban households belonging to lower middle and middle class. Rural and lower income groups still face disparity in getting access to drinking water. Continue reading “Important Global Health Facts You Need to Know”