A Brief Introduction to Global Health Disparities

What is Global Health? Global health is a broad discipline that develops students' understanding of the local, national and international determinants of health and healthcare delivery. It enables us to understand the wider influences of health such as poverty, debt, globalisation, healthcare financing, human rights, famine, environment, violent conflict and the movement of populations.

How does it differ from Public Health? Public Health concerns national health Global Health also considers factors outside your country which influencing health within your country.

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care.” Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 The Right to Health

How the Right To Health Relates To Other Human Rights Economic Rights (i.e. right to living wage) Civil/Political Rights (i.e. right to vote, gather, demonstrate) Other Social Rights (i.e. right to education) RIGHT TO HEALTH

Quiz Time

The World’s Poor: Question 1 BBC: “World Inequality” 18 th July in 5 people in the world Live on less than $1 a day -Human Dev. Report 2003

The Rising Tide Does Not Lift All Boats! BBC: “World Inequality” 18 th July 2001

A World of Water? Question Billion people do not have access to clean water! 2.4 billion lack adequate sanitation facilities Facts from UNDP Report 2003, Picture from BBC

Global Inequities Nutrition: Question 3 One billion adults are overweight… But 170 million children in poor countries underweight –Over three million die each year as a result of under nutrition Facts from UNDP Report 2003, Picture from CNN

Map of Hunger

AIDS: Question 4 42 million infected with HIV/AIDS currently, –Over 95% in the developing world Over 20 million orphans expected in 10 years time Facts from: AIDS Epidemic Update, 2002

Global Health Inequities: Medical research-Questions /90 Rule Less than 10% of the world’s research budget is spent on conditions that account for 90% of the world’s diseases! Source:

Disease Burden-Question 7 AIDS Kills 3 million a year TB kills 2 million a year Malaria kills 1 million a year Source: Lancet Volume 354, Number August 1999

Child Mortality: Question 8 11 million preventable deaths a year –30,000 a day Leading causes include: respiratory infections, diarrhea and malaria Source: “Health: A Key To Prosperity” A World Bank Report

Global Inequities: Life Expectancy In developed countries life expectancy was in the least developed countries –For persons born in 1999 Source: Human Development Report 2001, Table 8, and CMH calculations using World Development Indicators of the World Bank, 2001.

What are the Two Biggest Threats to Global Health? Tobacco- –Estimated to kill about 10 million people a year by 2030 AIDS –Destabilizing nations, reversing development trends, inciting famines (kills off the farmers)

As long as there is poverty in the world, I can never be rich, even if I have a billion dollars. As long as diseases are rampant and millions of people in this world cannot expect to live more than twenty-eight or thirty years, I can never be totally healthy, even if I just got a clean bill of health from the Mayo clinic. I can never be what I ought to be, until you are what you ought to be. This is the way our world was made. No individual or nation can stand out boasting of being independent, we are interdependent.”