Infographics

HIV/AIDS remains the most common cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. As of 2017, 71% of the world’s HIV-positive population lived there. Before this study, differences in subnational HIV prevalence (the percentage of people with HIV) and the number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) had not been examined comprehensively across sub-Saharan Africa at high spatial resolution.

Healthier diets could save one in five lives every year. Poor diet causes more deaths than any other risk factor. Most diet-related deaths are caused by eating too much sodium and not enough whole grains and fruit.

Everyone, all over the world, deserves to live a long life in full health. The Global Burden of Disease study measures what prevents us from achieving that goal.

As of 2017, the leading global risk factors causing early death and disability for all ages combined were high blood pressure and smoking. The disease burden caused by these two risk factors, compared to the burden expected based on the level of socioeconomic development, varied considerably by region.

Health forecasts and alternative future scenarios can influence long-term planning and investments. The study shows that people’s health can improve, but such improvement demands attention, resources, action, and continued prioritization of these drivers of health.

“Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017” is based on more data than ever before and includes 68,781 data sources used for the analysis of nonfatal causes of disease and injury. GBD 2017 added 19 new causes to its nonfatal analysis, for a total of 354 causes. The study includes a more detailed analysis of disability than previous versions of GBD.

“Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality for 282 causes of death in 195 countries and territories, 1980–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017” estimated mortality for 282 causes of death in 195 countries from 1980 to 2017, adding 18 causes to its estimates compared to GBD 2016. In 2017, the GBD study added numerous data sources, including 127 country-years of vital registration data and 502 country-years of cancer registry data.

Dr. Cynthia Maung, a Burmese physician and director of a clinic in Thailand, will be awarded $100,000 for using health data to improve the lives of refugees, migrant workers, and internally displaced people along the Burmese-Thai border.

Every day, 688 people die from firearm injuries around the world. Globally, homicide is the most common type of firearm death, but in some regions suicide is more common. Most firearm deaths occur as homicides of young men.

Local Burden of Disease and Global Burden of Disease use many of the same types of data sources, such as censuses, household surveys, disease notifications, and vital and sample registration systems.

This Visualizing Health Metrics infographic, based on estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016, sheds light on global trends in mortality attributable to high systolic blood pressure (SBP) from 1990 through 2016.