News

Countries in the Arab world – from Saudi Arabia to Mauritania to Yemen – have made some significant health gains over the past two decades, including increases in life expectancy and swift reductions in child mortality. These are some of the findings published January 20 in “The State of Health in the Arab World, 1990–2010: An Analysis of the Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors.” 

El Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) de la Universidad de Washington ha lanzado el Premio Roux, que ofrece 100.000 USD como reconocimiento a aquellos individuos o grupos que hayan utilizado datos del estudio sobre la Carga Mundial de Morbilidad (CMM) para implementar cambios para mejorar la salud de la población.

During the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq from 2003 to 2011, for every three people killed by violence, two died as a result of the collapse of the infrastructure that supports health care, clean water, nutrition, and transportation, according to new estimates in a study from the University of Washington Department of Global Health published in the open access journal PLOS Medicine. All told, the researchers estimate that nearly a half million people died from causes that could be attributed to the war.

HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of disease burden in 21 countries concentrated in four regions: Eastern and Southern Africa, Central Africa, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. In another seven countries, it’s the second-leading cause of disease burden. Despite widespread declines in HIV/AIDS mortality, between 2006 and 2010 HIV/AIDS deaths increased in 98 countries.

Data on potentially modifiable causes of health loss, or risk factors, such as improved nutrition and increased physical activity can help policymakers and donors prioritize prevention strategies to achieve better population health.

China made substantial gains in health over the past two decades, including increases in life expectancy, reductions in child mortality, and declines in infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and lower respiratory infections. But with that success accompanies the growth of non-communicable diseases and risk factors such as tobacco use and high blood pressure, which could overwhelm the health system.

IHME Director Christopher Murray delivered a talk on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010 (GBD 2010) at TEDMED, an annual gathering of leaders and innovators in science and medicine. Using IHME’s online data visualization tools, Dr. Murray presented eye-catching data on a range of health issues in the US and other countries.

Online tools to be launched by Bill Gates and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation reveal surprising picture for health in 187 countries.

IHME study identifies discrepancies between national surveys tracking obesity; women appear to be more attuned to weight changes than men.