Not even a glimmer

Epidemic of chronic diseases, social inequalities and covid-19 will worsen the future of global health

- VIBHA VARSHNEY

ASIF the COVID-19 pandemic was not enough, there is more bad news on the health front. The latest Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study, prepared by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a US-based research centre, shows that people are now living in poorer health for more years than ever before. Between 1990 and 2019, disability due to poor health has risen from 21 per cent of total disease burden to about 34 per cent. The researchers link this to the fact that though life expectancy has increased by 10 years across the world, the increase in healthy life expectancy—the number of years a person can expect to have good health—has risen by only 6.5 years during this period.

The group analysed 286 causes of death, 369 diseases and injuries, and 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, and found that increasing incidences of chronic diseases is behind the rise in years lived with disability. In 11 countries, more than half of all health loss (measured by disabilityadjusted life-years or dalys that combines the years lost due to disability, illnesses and early death) is due to non-communicable diseases (NCDS) and injuries. Only six countries have seen the numbers of years spent in poor health decrease between 1990 and 2019.