News

The lack of data, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, combined with the absence of international standards for data management, is hindering efforts in measuring progress toward meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Nine faculty members from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine have been named to a list of highly cited researchers for 2019, reflecting their broad influence and contributions to their fields. 

Current trends in fertility and maternal mortality lead researchers to project that more than 150,000 women will die during pregnancy and childbirth in 2030. In the US, where spending on health care is among the highest in the world, the maternal mortality ratio increased by nearly 70% between 2000 and 2017, from 18 deaths per 100,000 live births to 30.

An unprecedented study mapping child deaths over almost two decades finds that nearly half of the 5.4 million under-5 deaths in 2017 can be attributed to differences in child death rates within and across countries.

Health analyses of people at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in low- and middle-income countries may soon improve, thanks to new computer modeling. The new modeling is a joint project of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and the University of Cambridge. 

Only three African countries are expected to meet the global target for exclusive breastfeeding, “an unparalleled source of nutrition for newborns and infants, no matter where they are born,” according to a global health expert. A new study, published in Nature Medicine, finds areas of persistent low prevalence in countries that have made progress overall. Detailed maps accompanying the analysis reveal vulnerable populations, especially those living in rural areas and in extreme poverty.  

Chronic diseases, such as stroke, ischemic heart disease, and lung cancer, now represent the leading causes of premature death in China, according to a new scientific study.

Research published today in Nature Microbiology paints a startling new picture of where dengue, the world’s fastest-growing mosquito-borne virus, will spread to put more than 6 billion people at risk toward the end of the century. The study predicts risk to increase in the southeastern United States, coastal areas of China and Japan, and inland regions of Australia, based on researchers’ analysis of climate change data, urbanization, and resources and expertise available to control the virus. However, the biggest changes are predicted to occur in nations where dengue is already endemic.

A new scientific paper reveals striking variation in HIV prevalence at provincial and district levels. The paper, published in Nature, provides precise geographic estimates of HIV prevalence and numbers of people living with HIV to identify priority areas for health care support to reduce the burden of HIV.

One in six countries is expected to have substantially high out-of-pocket spending as a proportion of total health expenditures by 2050, according to a new scientific study. As low-income countries increase their GDP, they often face the “missing middle” problem: As they receive less development assistance, they are not able to fill the resulting gap due to slower growth in government health spending. 

Dr. Richard Horton, the “activist editor” of the international medical journal The Lancet, will be honored June 10 in London for his accomplishments as one of the world’s most “committed, articulate, and influential advocates for population health.” He is receiving the 2019 Roux Prize, given annually to individuals on the front lines of global health innovation in data science. Past winners include health ministers of Rwanda and Mali.