Dr. Péter Gaál, President of MEMT, and Dr. Tamás Joó, Vice President, contributed to an international collaborative study assessing the health of the world’s population. The resulting article, essential for understanding the impact of diseases and injuries on global populations and for evaluating progress toward international health goals, was published in The Lancet in May 2024.
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) has provided systematic and comprehensive estimates of global health and health loss by age, geography, and gender since the early 1990s.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted global health priorities to controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and addressing the additional strain on healthcare systems. Since then, COVID-19 has transitioned from a new threat to an infectious disease that populations must manage and live with. In this context, systematic and up-to-date analyses of the burden of disease—categorized by causes, age, gender, location, and year—have become increasingly critical.
The global epidemiological transition remains ongoing. The article’s findings highlight the continued need to prioritize policies focused on preventing and treating non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and strengthening healthcare systems. Progress in reducing the burden of CMNN diseases (communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional) must also persist. While global trends show improvement, the burden of CMNN diseases remains unacceptably high. Evidence-based interventions can save the lives of young children and mothers and improve the overall health and economic conditions of societies worldwide.
Governments and multilateral organizations must prioritize pandemic preparedness planning in the coming decades, alongside efforts to reduce the burden of resource-intensive diseases and injuries.
Read the full article by clicking on the link: The Lancet Article