WHO and IHME host forum on Global Burden of Disease findings

GENEVA – Leaders of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington are hosting a forum December 18 on the annual Global Burden of Disease study (GBD).

“The WHO is committed to supporting countries to improve their systems for gathering robust health data,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, and Dr. Christopher Murray, IHME’s Director, in a joint letter accompanying a summary of the study. “The GBD is an important independent resource that helps fill large gaps in existing health data through innovative statistical modeling.”

Sessions at the forum will include examining the burden of disease at subnational levels, non-communicable diseases and risk factors, and forecasting health trends out to 2040. Speakers from several nations, including India, Ethiopia, Russia, and Iran, will participate.

The 2017 GBD study comprises seven papers and a complete edition of the international medical journal The Lancet. (See http://www.healthdata.org/news-release/baby-%E2%80%98boom%E2%80%99-and-%E2%80%98bust%E2%80%99-nations%E2%80%99-rates-childbirth-vary-significantly.)

In addition, for the first time, the GBD seeks to quantify population and levels of fertility in 195 countries and territories. The number of collaborators totaled 3,676 from 146 countries and territories; it includes 38 billion estimates of 359 diseases and injuries and 84 risk factors in 195 countries and territories.

“Our organizations – and both of us personally – are committed to improving the accuracy, timeliness, and policy-relevance of health data and information, according to Tedros and Murray.

Tedros and Murray last May signed a memorandum of understanding between the two organizations that “will result in increased awareness and understanding of health problems globally, as well as the evaluation of strategies to address them.”

Media contacts:

IHME: Kelly Bienhoff, +1-206-897-2884 (office); +1-913-302-3817 (mobile); [email protected]

IHME: Dean Owen, +1-206-897-2858 (office); +1-206-434-5630 (mobile); [email protected]

About the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent global health research organization at the University of Washington that provides rigorous and comparable measurement of the world’s most important health problems and evaluates the strategies used to address them. IHME is committed to transparency and makes this information widely available so that policymakers have evidence they need to make informed decisions on allocating resources to improve population health.