Global Issues: Health
Introduction
The COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 prompted the WHO to issue a public health emergency declaration in January and a global pandemic designation in March. The exceptional public health, humanitarian, and development emergency prompted the United Nations to begin a comprehensive response.
Since its foundation, the United Nations has taken a leading role in advancing and defending health around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO), which is in charge of that effort inside the UN system, was established on April 7, 1948, which is today recognized as World Health Day.
Malaria, women's and children's health, TB, venereal disease, nutrition, and environmental pollution were determined to be the main objectives for WHO at the outset. Along with relatively recent ailments like HIV/AIDS, diabetes, cancer, and emerging illnesses like SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), Ebola, and the Zika virus, many of those are still on WHO's agenda today. The global response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is being led by WHO.
WHO assumed control of the International Classification of Diseases in 1948, and it has since evolved into the global norm for categorizing and reporting illnesses. Since its founding, WHO has helped bring about a number of significant developments in global public health. Among them are:
- Antibiotics: (1950) (1950) The great age of modern antibiotic discovery starts, and the WHO starts advising nations on how to responsibly use them.
- Polio: (1988) (1988) When the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was founded in 1988, polio was paralyzing more than 350,000 people annually. Worldwide immunization against the disease has led to a greater than 99 percent reduction in the number of polio cases since that time.
- Smallpox: In 1979, the WHO launched a comprehensive 12-year global immunization effort that resulted in the eradication of smallpox.
- The approach to lower the death toll from tuberculosis (TB) is introduced in 1995. Through TB diagnosis and treatment, more than 37 million lives have been saved by the end of 2013.
- AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: (2001) In cooperation with other UN agencies and significant contributors, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is established as a new partnership and funding structure.
- Children's mortality: (2006) For the first time in recent memory, the number of kids who pass away before their fifth birthday goes below 10 million.
- Cancer, Diabetes, and Heart disease :(2012) For the first time, WHO Member States established global goals for the prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- Ebola virus epidemic: (2014) West Africa experienced the largest Ebola virus illness outbreak ever recorded worldwide. The WHO Secretariat launches an unprecedented reaction to the outbreak, sending out thousands of experts and medical supplies, organizing foreign medical teams, and coordinating the establishment of mobile labs and treatment facilities. The WHO reports that there have been no Ebola cases in West Africa as of 2016, but issues a warning that outbreaks are likely to persist and that the countries in the region must be on guard and prepared.
Working on the ground in 149 nations across the world are members of the WHO team, which consists of medical professionals, public health experts, scientists, epidemiologists, and other experts. They offer aid with preventive, treatment, and care services within the health sector as well as technical advice to ministries of health.
The WHO's actions span the entire gamut of international healthcare. For instance, WHO responds to humanitarian catastrophes and steps in during crises. Additionally, it strives to create international health regulations that nations must abide by in order to recognize disease epidemics and halt their spread. Additionally, the activity of WHO contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals for health.
World Health Statistics
The Sustainable Development Goals have a far wider focus and look to 2030 rather than 2015, when the Millennium Development Goals were narrowly focused on a set of disease-specific health targets. For instance, the SDGs call for obtaining universal health coverage and contain the broad health target, "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages."
According to WHO's annual picture of global health, World Health Statistics 2020,
- Not only are people living longer, but they are also living healthier lives. Between 2000 and 2016, the world's life expectancy and healthy life expectancy (HALE) both grew by over 8%, and money continues to have a significant impact on both.
- Between 2000 and 2017, there was an improvement in global access to vital health care, with low- and lower middle-income nations experiencing the biggest gains. However, service coverage in low- and middle-income nations continues to be far less than in richer ones.
- Noncommunicable disease prevention and control have not made as much progress as communicable disease prevention and control, especially in low- and middle-income countries where the delivery of effective NCD interventions continues to be a major issue for health systems.
- The biggest return on investment and the necessity for nations to track their progress toward the SDGs lies in developing national health information systems. Over half of the indicators for approximately a quarter of the nations lack recent primary or direct underlying data.
- For major infectious illnesses, maternal, neonatal, and child health care, prevention and treatment coverage have significantly improved, resulting in a continuous drop in incidence and mortality from these diseases over the past 20 years. The world still runs the risk of falling off the path to achieving the SDGs if COVID-19 proceeds as planned because the present rate of change is insufficient to meet the 2030 SDG targets.
The WHO is supported by other members of the UN family to promote and protect global health.
Other UN family members assist the WHO in promoting and defending global health. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children's Fund, and the General Assembly and Economic and Social Council all work to support reproductive, adolescent, and maternal health. The General Assembly and Economic and Social Council also discuss a variety of health-related issues (UNICEF).
World Water Day (22 March), World Autism Awareness Day (2 April), World No-Tobacco Day (31 May), the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (26 June), World Mental Health Day (10 October), World Diabetes Day (14 November), and World AIDS Day are among the annual international health observances declared by the General Assembly in addition to World Health Day (7 April) (1 December).
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