WHO publishes the top ten global health threats

The ten biggest health threats in 2019

The world is facing numerous health challenges. These include new waves of infectious diseases such as measles and diphtheria, the increase in drug-resistant pathogens, rising obesity rates, the health effects of pollution and climate change, and numerous humanitarian crises. The World Health Organization recently published a report on the top 10 global health threats that we face in 2019.

At the beginning of 2019, WHO will release a new five-year strategic plan to tackle global health threats. According to the WHO, this plan focuses on the self-imposed three billion target: to give more than a billion people access to universal health care, to protect one billion more from health emergencies, and to increase overall health and wellbeing for one billion people. To this end, the health organization narrowed down the biggest global threats that need to be tackled.

WHO recently published a list of the world's top 10 global health threats facing 2019. (Image: Gino Santa Maria / fotolia.com)

Air pollution and climate change

According to the WHO, nine out of every ten people inhale polluted air each day. Air pollution is considered to be the greatest environmental health risk in 2019. According to the WHO, microscopic pollutants from the air penetrate the respiratory and circulatory system, damaging the lungs, heart and brain. This causes seven million premature deaths each year from cancer, stroke, heart disease and lung disease. About 90 percent of these deaths would occur in low and middle income countries. Here the emissions from industry, traffic and agriculture are particularly high. The main cause of air pollution, the WHO calls the burning of fossil fuels.

Non-communicable diseases

According to the WHO, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease account for more than 70 percent of all worldwide deaths (41 million people). 15 million people already succumb to such diseases between the ages of 30 and 69 years. Here, too, more than 85 percent of these premature deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. WHO identifies five major risk factors for these diseases: tobacco use, physical inactivity, harmful alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet and air pollution.

Global influenza pandemic

The world will face another influenza pandemic, predict WHO experts. The global defense mechanisms are only as effective as the weakest link in the standby and reaction system. The WHO is constantly monitoring the spread of influenza viruses to detect potential pandemic strains. Currently, 153 institutions in 114 countries are working on global virus surveillance. Each year, these data provide recommendations as to which strains should be included in the flu vaccines to provide the best possible protection to humans.

Crisis areas and poor basic services

More than 1.6 billion people (22 percent of the world's population) live in places where long-lasting crises such as drought, hunger, war and population displacement prevail, WHO reports. Such conditions were usually associated with weak health services and poor basic services.

Resistant germs

The development of antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials is one of the greatest successes of modern medicine. The time for the effectiveness of these drugs could be over, according to the WHO soon. Increasing antibiotic resistance threatens to send us back to a time when we can no longer treat infectious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhea and salmonellosis.

Ebola and other pathogens with high pandemic potential

In 2018, according to the WHO in the Democratic Republic of Congo, two outbreaks of Ebola occurred in cities with more than one million people. Crises and rough terrain made it difficult to limit the eruption. This shows that the context in which an epidemic breaks out can be critical to the development of a pandemic. The WHO reports that Ebola, haemorrhagic fever, Zika, Nipah, coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and SARS viruses in particular have the potential for severe pandemics.

Impfzögern

The reluctance or refusal of vaccination, despite available vaccines, promotes the spread of preventable diseases, according to the WHO. According to the WHO, two to three million deaths per year are prevented each year by vaccinations. Another 1.5 million deaths could be avoided if the tolerance for immunization worldwide could be improved. WHO cites lack of trust as one of the main reasons people consciously choose not to vaccinate.

dengue

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease that causes flu-like symptoms. In about 20 percent of the cases, severe events can occur, which can even be fatal. According to the WHO, dengue fever has been an ever-increasing threat for decades. The disease was originally a tropical disease, but is increasingly spreading in more temperate countries. Meanwhile, 40 percent of the world are threatened by dengue fever. Every year around 390 million infections occur.

HIV

Research has made tremendous progress against HIV. Nevertheless, the WHO does not declare the epidemic defeated for a long time. Still, around one million people would die from HIV / AIDS each year. It is estimated that around 37 million people worldwide are infected with HIV. Risk groups are according to WHO prostitutes, people in prison and homosexual men. In addition, the sub-Saharan African regions are particularly affected. Around 25 percent of all HIV infections take place in this area. (Vb)