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OVERVIEW
Causes of death and ill-health
When looking at immediate causes (rather than indirect causes, such as tobacco), the leading global cause of years lost through death and ill-health in 2030 is expected to be HIV/AIDS, with unipolar depressive disorders second. In low income countries, the top four are predicted to be:
In high income countries, depression is placed first while the other three don’t make the top 10 (See Table 6 [PDF]).
 However, Tobacco is projected to kill 50% more people in 2015 than HIV/AIDS, and to be responsible for 10% of all deaths globally [PDF]. (Photo taken by Geierunited)
Millennium Development Goals
Three out of eight Millennium Development goals (MDGs), eight of the 18 targets and 18 of the 48 indicators are directly related to health.
MDG Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five
MDG Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
- Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
MDG Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
- Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
- Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
Key Recommendations of Health in the Millennium Development Goals:
- To strengthen health systems and ensure they are equitable.
- To ensure that health is prioritized within overall development and economic policies.
- To develop health strategies that respond to the diverse and evolving needs of countries.
- To mobilize needed resources for health in poor countries.
- To improve the quality of health data.
 Health MDGs at the Crossroads, January 9, 2004—With just over a decade left before the Millennium Development Goals become due, the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO) are warning that millions of the world’s poorest people will continue to suffer from death and ill health unless the international development community can do much more to help developing countries reach their health-related MDGs.
Sources of Information
The Commonwealth Health and Media Partnership - Supporting quality reporting on health issues in developing countries
The Global Health Atlas the World Health Organization (WHO) Communicable Disease Global Atlas is bringing together for analysis and comparison standardized data and statistics for infectious diseases at country, regional, and global levels. The analysis and interpretation of data are further supported through information on demography, socioeconomic conditions, and environmental factors.
The World Health Organisation World Health Statistics 2006
Table of Contents and Introduction [pdf 302kb]
Ten statistical highlights in global public health [pdf 3.19Mb]
Mortality [pdf 395kb]
Morbidity [pdf 138kb]
Coverage [pdf 359kb]
Risk Factors [pdf 358kb]
Health Systems [pdf 677kb]
Demographic and Socioeconomic Statistics [pdf 296kb]
Link to UN Human Development Report Provides useful statistics on health in 177 countries in the world.
Human Development Index in the major regions of the world, 1994, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 1997
Infant mortality in the beginning of the 1990s World Development Report, UNDP, New York; World Development Indicators, World Bank, Washington DC, 1995
Infant mortality at the end of the 1990s World Development Report, UNDP, New York; World Development Indicators, World Bank, Washington D, 2000
Life expectancy at birth in the beginning of the 1990s World Development Report, UNDP, New York; World Development Indicators, World Bank, Washington DC
WHO | 50 Facts: Global health situation and trends 1955-2025
The World Health Report 2003- Shaping the future Facts & Figures
OECD Calls for More Aid, Used More Effectively, to Bring Safer, Healthier Lives 18/01/2005 - Aid can and must be used more effectively to provide healthier and more secure lives for the 1.1 billion people in the world who live on less than a dollar a day and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the OECD’s annual Development Co-operation Report, published by the 22 nations and the Europe Union that provide the bulk of the world’s development aid. In 2003, these countries provided development aid totalling a record USD 69.0 billion, up from USD 58.3 billion in 2002 (see final 2003 figures).
Policy Brief: Poverty and Health in Developing Countries: Key Actions Health is higher on the international agenda than ever before and improving the health of poor people is a central issue in development. Poor people suffer worse health and die younger.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), infectious and parasitic diseases cause every year around 10.9 million deaths and result in a loss of an estimated 350 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Of these about 56% deaths are caused by HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria (World Health Report 2004).
Global Shortage of Health Workers
Number of physicians per 100 000 inhabitants by country at the end of the 1990s World Development Report, UNDP, New York; World Development Indicators, World Bank, Washington DC, 2000.
The global shortage of health workers and its impact : World Health Organization.
Fifty-seven countries, most of them in Africa and Asia, face a severe health workforce crisis. WHO estimates that at least 2 360 000 health service providers and 1 890 000 management support workers, or a total of 4 250 000 health workers, are needed to fill the gap. Without prompt action, the shortage will worsen. Health workers are inequitably distributed throughout the world, with severe imbalances between developed and developing countries. This global workforce shortage is made even worse by imbalances within countries. In general, there is a lack of adequate staff in rural areas compared to cities. Sub-Saharan Africa faces the greatest challenges. While it has 11 percent of the world’s population and 24 percent of the global burden of disease, it has only 3 percent of the world’s health workers. There is a direct relationship between the ratio of health workers to population and survival of women during childbirth and children in early infancy. As the number of health workers declines, survival declines proportionately.
Figure 1: World distribution of health workers
This map is an approximation of actual country borders
Source: WHO (2006). The world health report 2006 – Working together for health. Geneva, World Health Organization
Eldis dossier: human resources for health is an information resource and tool for advocacy for the importance of human resources in making improvements in health service delivery for poor people. It offers practical up to date information about how to address human resource problems and issues, drawing upon evidence about what works, and identifying innovations in approaches, policy and practice.
EQUINET and the Health Systems Trust are implementing research and country level meetings and review in several countries of southern Africa to explore policy options to improve equity in the distribution of Health personnel.
The Global Health Workforce Alliance is a partnership dedicated to identifying and implementing solutions to the health workforce crisis. It brings together a variety of actors, including national governments, civil society, finance institutions, workers, international agencies, academic institutions and professional associations
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