- For the third consecutive year, Covid-19 remains in the first place of the world’s biggest health problems.
- While for the first time mental health appears above cancer.
- While some general recommendations such as physical exercise and having a balanced diet remain the main tips that work against most of the diseases mentioned.
The number of diseases identified to date is almost infinite. The list is quite extensive and is constantly increasing due to the appearance of new pathologies. Although most are of low incidence, there are also others that are already classified as global health problems. Everything is due to its global presence and that millions of people suffer from it.
Although Covid-19 is still an active pandemic, it does not mean that it is the only one. In fact, there are several more that also cause millions of deaths each year. The problem is that some have been normalized and even underestimated, although in the end they are highly deadly.
In this regard, the investigation Ipsos Global Health Service Monitor 2022 In which people from 34 countries participated, it focused on identifying the main global health problems of today.
What are the main global health problems?
Through a survey and for the third consecutive year, the first place corresponds to the Covid-19. Although the truth is that now its relevance is less because it only obtained 47% of the votes, while in 2021 the figure was 70%.
Based on the official count of the World Health Organization (WHO), so far 653 million cases and 6.67 million deaths have been reported. Despite the development of vaccines and medicines, it remains a serious health problem that can be fatal.
For its part, mental health (36%) has experienced a 5-point increase since 2021, making it the second biggest concern. Something quite notorious is that for the first time it is placed ahead of cancer (34%), which is now third.
On the fourth rung of the world’s biggest health problems is stress, which is directly related to mental health. Although to date there are people who consider that it is “normal”, the reality is that it is a condition that causes a clear decrease in the quality of life.
From obesity to diabetes
While a little below is obesity. According to the WHO, since 1975 it has tripled worldwide. The most recent analysis was done in 2016 and identified more than 1.9 billion adults aged 18 and over who were overweight. Of them, there were 650 million obese.
While in the next position is diabetes. To understand its impact, it went from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million people diagnosed in 2014. The prevalence of this disease has increased at a faster rate in low-income countries.
Finally, the list with the biggest global health problems is completed with drug addiction, alcoholism, heart disease and smoking. In fact, several of those mentioned are related to each other.
For its part, some general recommendations such as physical exercise and having a balanced diet remain the main tips that work against most of the diseases mentioned.
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