World Health Statistics 2013

Note: This article is useful for MPSC MAINS PAPER 3

• World Health Statistics 2013 attribute these current positive trends to the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the diverse efforts made to meet the 2015 deadline for their associated targets.
• The World Health Organization's (WHO) annual report indicates that substantial progress has been made in the past decade toward reducing child and maternal mortality, improving nutrition, and reducing morbidity and mortality due to HIV infection, tuberculosis, and malaria.
• As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approach the 2015 deadline, this year’s World Health Statistics shows the considerable progress made in reducing child and maternal deaths, improving nutrition and reducing deaths and illness from HIV infection, tuberculosis and malaria.
• It shows that, in absolute terms, countries in the lowest 25% category of health status have made impressive health progress .
• For example, the absolute gap in child mortality between the top and bottom countries was reduced from 171 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 107 deaths per 1000 live births in 2011.
• Some countries that were among those with the world’s highest child mortality rates in 1990 – including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Madagascar, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal and Timor-Leste – have improved child survival to such an extent that they no longer belong to that group.
• However, despite the fact that -27 countries have reached the MDG target already, the current rates of progress will not be sufficient to reach the global target of a two-thirds reduction in 1990 levels of child mortality by 2015.
• In 1990, countries with the highest rates of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth had on average 915 more maternal deaths per 100 000 live births than countries with the lowest rates. By 2010, this gap had narrowed to 512 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births. Unfortunately the global rate of decline (of 3%) will need to double to achieve the MDG target of reducing maternal mortality ratio by three quarters.
• The gap between countries with the highest and lowest rates of new HIV infections narrowed from 360 to 261 people per 100 000 population between 1990 and 2011.
• While new HIV infections increased six-fold for countries with the lowest rates, the group of countries with the highest rates have cut new HIV infections by 27%.
• Globally, tuberculosis (TB) deaths have decreased by more than 40% since 1990 and the trend indicates that this will reach 50% by 2015. 

Other key trends in this year’s report include:

Preterm births: Every year around 15 million babies are born preterm (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) and one million of them die. Preterm birth is the world’s leading killer of newborn babies and the second most important cause of death (after pneumonia) in all children aged less than 5 years.

Diabetes: Almost 10% of the world’s adult population has diabetes, measured by elevated fasting blood glucose (≥126mg/dl). People with diabetes have increased risk of stroke and are 10 times more likely to need a lower limb amputation than people who do not have diabetes.

Access to medicines: Many low- and middle-income countries face a scarcity of medicines in the public sector, forcing people to the private sector where prices can be up to 16 times higher. In these countries, an average of only 57% (and as little as 3%) of selected generic medicines are available in the public sector.

Saving Children lives: World has made significant progress in reducing child death by 40% from nearly 12 million deaths in 1990 to less than 7 million in 2011.Global death rate for children under 5 age have been dropping by an average rate of 2.5% each year for the last two decades. Unfortunately this progress will not be sufficient to reach the global target of a two thirds reduction in 1990 levels of mortality by the year 2015. Almost 75% deaths are caused by just six conditions: neo natal cases, pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, AIDS and measles.

KEY FACTS:

• everyday about 800 women die due to complication of pregnancy and childbirth.
• In some countries, less than 10% women who want to prevent pregnancy have access to any contraceptive methods.
• The government of Luxembourg spends more money on health per person than any other country in the world.
• 80% of Malaria death occurs in just 14 countries.
• China now has higher life expectancy at birth than 7 of 10 countries in eastern Europe.
• Almost half of all countries surveyed have access to less than half the essential medicines they need for basic health care in the public sector.
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Global status report on road safety 2013.

Note: This article is useful for MPSC MAINS PAPER 3

• WHO publishes a Global status reports on road safety.
• The first Global status report on road safety, published in 2009, provided the first comprehensive assessment of the road safety situation globally.
• while the second report – which will serve as a baseline for the Decade of Action for Road Safety – was released on 14 March 2013.

Key facts
About 1.24 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes.
Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among young people, aged 15–29 years.
91% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low-income and middle-income countries, even though these countries have approximately half of the world's vehicles.
Half of those dying on the world’s roads are “vulnerable road users”: pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
Without action, road traffic crashes are predicted to result in the deaths of around 1.9 million people annually by 2020.
Only 28 countries, representing 416 million people (7% of the world’s population), have adequate laws that address all five risk factors (speed, drink-driving, helmets, seat-belts and child restraints).

Who is at risk?
Socioeconomic status:

More than 90% of deaths that result from road traffic injuries occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Even within high-income countries, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to be involved in a road traffic crashes than their more affluent counterparts.
Age:Young adults aged between 15 and 44 years account for 59% of global road traffic deaths.
Sex:From a young age, males are more likely to be involved in road traffic crashes than females.

More than three-quarters (77%) of all road traffic deaths occur among men.

Among young drivers, young males under the age of 25 years are almost 3 times as likely to be killed in a car crash as young females.

Key risk factors and what can be done to address them:

Speed:An increase in average speed is directly related both to the likelihood of a crash occurring and to the severity of the consequences of the crash.
Pedestrians have a greater chance of surviving a car crash at 30 km/h or below.Drink–driving
Drinking and driving increases both the risk of a crash and the likelihood that death or serious injury will result.
The risk of being involved in a crash increases significantly above a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.04 g/dl.
Enforcing sobriety checkpoints and random breath testing can lead to reductions in alcohol-related crashes of about 20% and have shown to be very cost-effective.
Motorcycle helmets:
Wearing a motorcycle helmet correctly can reduce the risk of death by almost 40% and the risk of severe injury by over 70%.
Seat-belts and child restraints:
Wearing a seat-belt reduces the risk of a fatality among front-seat passengers by 40–50% and of rear-seat passengers by between 25–75%.
Distracted driving:There are many types of distractions that can lead to impaired driving, but recently there has been a marked increase around the world in the use of mobile phones by drivers that is becoming a growing concern for road safety.

WHO response
Coordinating the Decade of Action for Road Safety:
In 2010 a United Nations General Assembly resolution proclaimed a Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011–2020).

This Decade was launched in May 2011 in over 110 countries, with the aim of saving millions of lives by improving the safety of roads and vehicles; enhancing the behaviour of road users; and improving emergency services.
Monitoring progress through global status reportsProviding technical support to countries

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World health statistics 2012 report

Note: This article is useful for MPSC MAINS PAPER 3

• Published annually by WHO, the World health statistics is the most comprehensive publication of health-related global statistics available.
• It contains data from 194 countries on a range of mortality, disease and health system indicators including life expectancy, illnesses and deaths from a range of diseases, health services and treatments, financial investment in health, as well as risk factors and behaviors that affect health.

World health statistics 2012 report

• The World health statistics 2012 report puts the spotlight on the growing problem of the noncommunicable diseases burden.
• One in three adults worldwide, according to the report, has raised blood pressure – a condition that causes around half of all deaths from stroke and heart disease. One in 10 adults has diabetes.
• This report is further evidence of the dramatic increase in the conditions that trigger heart disease and other chronic illnesses, particularly in low- and middle-income countries,
• In some African countries, as much as half the adult population has high blood pressure.
• For the first time, the World Health Organization’s annual statistics report includes information from 194 countries on the percentage of men and women with raised blood pressure and blood glucose levels.
• In high-income countries, widespread diagnosis and treatment with low-cost medication have significantly reduced mean blood pressure across populations – and this has contributed to a reduction in deaths from heart disease. 
• In Africa, however, more than 40% (and up to 50%) of adults in many countries are estimated to have high blood pressure.
• Most of these people remain undiagnosed, although many of these cases could be treated with low-cost medications, which would significantly reduce the risk of death and disability from heart disease and stroke.
• Also included for the first time in the World health statistics 2012 are data on people with raised blood glucose levels. 
• While the global average prevalence is around 10%, up to one third of populations in some Pacific Island countries have this condition.
• Left untreated, diabetes can lead to cardiovascular disease, blindness and kidney failure.

Obesity another major issue

• In every region of the world, obesity doubled between 1980 and 2008.
• Today, half a billion people (12% of the world’s population) are considered obese.
• The highest obesity levels are in the WHO Region of the Americas (26% of adults) and the lowest in the WHO South-East Asia Region (3% obese). 
• In all parts of the world, women are more likely to be obese than men, and thus at greater risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
• Noncommunicable diseases currently cause almost two thirds of all deaths worldwide.

• Global concern about the rise in numbers of deaths from heart and lung disease, diabetes and cancer prompted the United Nations to hold a high-level meeting on noncommunicable diseases in New York in September 2011.

Some key trends in this year’s report are:
Maternal mortality:

In 20 years, the number of maternal deaths has decreased from more than 540 000 deaths in 1990 to less than 290 000 in 2010 – a decline of 47%.

One third of these maternal deaths occur in just two countries – India with 20% of the global total and Nigeria with 14%.

10 year trends for causes of child death:

The world has made significant progress, having reduced the number of child deaths from almost 10 million children aged less than 5 years in 2000 to 7.6 million annual deaths in 2010.

Declines in numbers of deaths from diarrhoeal disease and measles have been particularly striking.

Death registration:

Only 34 countries (representing 15% of the world’s population) produce high-quality cause-of-death data. In low and middle-income countries, less than 10% of deaths are registered.

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