World: Global study finds countries are saving more lives, despite triad of troubles

The annual Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, the world’s largest scientific collaboration on population health, has uncovered new trends in illnesses, deaths and risk factors leading to poor health.

The study finds that countries have saved more lives over the past decade, especially among children under age five, but the persistent problems of obesity, conflict and mental illness, comprise a “triad of troubles” that prevent people from living long, healthy lives, according to the 2017 edition published earlier this month.

“Death is a powerful motivator, both for individuals and for countries, to address diseases that have been killing us at high rates,” said Christopher Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. “But, we’ve been much less motivated to address issues leading to illnesses. Obesity, conflict and mental illness, pose a stubborn and persistent barrier to active and vigorous lifestyles.”

GBD found that since 2006 substantial progress has been made in driving down death rates from some of the most pernicious diseases and conditions. Lower respiratory infections, diarrhoea, neonatal preterm birth, HIV/AIDS, and malaria, all declined by 30 per cent or more in just one decade.

In 2016, for the first time in modern history, fewer than five million children under age five died in one year, as compared to 1990 when 11 million died.

Researchers attribute this to improvements in educational levels of mothers, rising per capita incomes, declining fertility, increased vaccination programmes, mass distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, improved water and sanitation, and a wide array of other health programmes.

The 2017 GBD study, published in The Lancet, marks the 20th anniversary edition of the study, which first appeared in 1997.

The GBD is the largest and most comprehensive effort to quantify health loss across places and over time. It draws on the work of more than 2,500 collaborators from more than 130 countries and territories. IHME coordinates the study. This year, several billion data points are included.

Other findings

• Poor diet was associated with nearly one in five deaths globally.
• Non-communicable diseases were responsible for 72% of all deaths worldwide in 2016, in contrast to 58% in 1990. Within the past decade, diabetes rose in rank order from the 17th to the 9th leading cause of death in low-middle income countries.
• Tobacco was linked to 7.1 million deaths and, in more than 100 countries, smoking was among the top risk factors for loss of healthy life.
• The leading causes of disease burden globally included: ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, lower respiratory infections, low back and neck pain, diarrhoea-related diseases, and road injuries.
• Among countries with populations greater than 1 million, the highest life expectancy at birth in 2016 was in Japan for women (86.9 years) and Singapore for men (81.3 years).
• Several countries, including Ethiopia, Niger, Portugal, Peru, and the Maldives, had higher life expectancies than would be expected based on their levels of development alone.