Five threats to global health, according to WHO
World Health Organization (WHO) is the United Nations agency that connects nations, partners and people to promote health, keep the world safe and be there for the helpless people. The goal is that everyone in every place can attain the highest level of health. WHO initiate global efforts to cover universal health issues based on science-based policies and programs. People there direct and coordinate the world’s response to health emergencies. So, they promote healthier lives. According to the WHO, the world is facing multiple challenges. 2020 was a challenging year as far as global health is concerned. The world had to deal with some healthy issues with the most known virus COVID-19 that came into our lives in 2020. Apart from this virus, there is a range from outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, increasing reports of drug-resistant pathogens, physical inactivity to the health impacts of environmental pollution and climate change and multiple humanitarian crises. The list of these threats provides an overview of “urgent, global health challenges” that WHO developed with the help from experts around the world. All of the challenges included on the list are urgent, and several are interlinked. Below there are listed 5 major health threats according to WHO.
Global Health Inequalities
Initially, COVID-19 constituted the motive to pay more attention to some problems of global health. In particular, the first threat that should be taken under further consideration is the health inequities. That is, a lot of people are not having access to the health services for a number of reasons, based on the fact that people are having different incomes and are able to make ends meet differently. The World Health Organization has pinpointed this issue and will focus on the necessary actions in order to offer equal access for the sick persons to get treated. Moreover, the organization will collaborate with countries working with them to track and monitor the health inequalities. The conditions that people live in, their gender, ethnicity or education etc are some of the most common and important factors that create the inequality in their treatment.
Climate crisis
The continual global environmental changes, such as climate change or freshwater decrease etc, are starting to influence human health more and more with the passage of time. The environmental changes are having the power to change the development in health that has been achieved all those years. Through specific diagrams the WHO analyzes that the extreme weather phenomena like floods or wildfires could change the frequency that the diseases emerge. Moreover, these weather events could change the quality and the wealth of food resulting in more significant consequences. For instance, not only the poverty may be increased but also the number of people that are displaced. Furthermore, another example that is demonstrated through WHO for the climate crisis is the issue of air pollution. Through extensive studies the WHO is proving that air pollution contributes to an important number of human deaths. Consequently, it should be a first and foremost priority, according to WHO, for countries to adopt and implement renewable sources of energy as soon as possible.
Paused efforts to tackle communicable diseases
Another threat that the World Health Organization pointed, is that due to the pandemic of Covid-19, the efforts to tackle communicable diseases were paused.In recent decades, the WHO and its partners have determinedly worked to end the scourge of HIV, polio, malaria and tuberculosis and to prevent epidemics of diseases like yellow fever and measles. Despite the fact that these efforts were delayed in 2020, WHO is optimistic to help countries vaccinate against polio and other diseases which made people die during the pandemic, in 2021 and further. As part of this push, WHO will work to make better access to the HPV vaccine, as part of the new global effort in order to end cervical cancer that they started in 2020. They will work with partners to put into effect the new 10-year roadmap for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), with global targets. Finally, they will increase attempts to end AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis and to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.
Vaccine Hesitancy
Vaccine hesitancy is the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate is threatening decades of progress in the global fight against infectious diseases. Vaccines prevent 2 to 3 million deaths a year with the potential to save another 1.5 million. It is well-known that vaccination is one of the most cost-effective ways of avoiding disease. The reasons why people choose not to vaccinate are complicated. Advisory group to WHO identified complacency, inconvenience in accessing vaccines, and lack of confidence are key reasons underlying hesitancy. Health workers, especially those in communities, remain the most trusted advisor and influencer of vaccination decisions, and they must be supported to provide credible information on vaccines. Furthermore, some children don’t get vaccinated due to the fact that their parents’ strong personal beliefs about it. In this case herd immunity is impaired, some children are placed at risk by those whose parents have chosen not to vaccinate. WHO noted that it is working with countries and partners to strengthen health systems, improve preparedness, and expand the availability of long-term contingency financing for complex health emergencies.
Capitalizing on technological advancements
Thanks to technology there is development in the areas of disease, diagnosis, prevention, supervision, and treatment. Genome editing, digital health technologies, and synthetic biology have the ability to solve a number of health problems. However, WHO also noted that these technologies raise a number of questions on how they should be checked and monitored. WHO highlighted that without the appropriate organization and specific plan, these technological advancements have the potential to create new organisms and harm people, and stated that it is setting up new committees that can suggest to review evidence and create a new path on the technologies. Therefore, there’s a need for hospitals and generally health systems to prepare for a new beginning of clinical innovation, especially as leaders read about the promise of patient-generated data, artificial intelligence, and precision medicine in clinical literature and the popular press alike.
All the health challenges on the WHO list are urgent and there is a connection between them. Each one requires a coordinated effort from the global health sector, policymakers, international agencies and communities,as the organization mentions. One of the key principles WHO has emphasized throughout the fight against the above threats is the need to demonstrate greater solidarity — between nations, institutions, communities and individuals, closing the cracks in our defenses on which these issues thrive. In 2021 WHO’s people prioritized this. They built national capacity through their work with Member States but also with new initiatives, for example working with youth groups, strengthening and expanding partnerships with civil society and the private sector, and partnering with the new WHO Foundation. Their institutional capacity will develop, including through new scientific collaborations and the WHO Academy. WHO said the challenges included on the list “demand a response from more than just the health sector,” adding, “Governments, communities, and international agencies must work together” to address these “critical” issues. To sum up, the challenges as far as global health are concerned continue to increase more and more with the passage of time. Hence, as WHO already did, it is important to track and monitor the possible threats and dangers in order to minimize them.
by ADream Team: Mirto Theodosopoulou, Mar Lsk, leonidas lepidas, Maria Patinioti
Betty Tsakarestou, Mania Xenou
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