Global Health Vast Differences Exist Between Developed

Global Health

Vast differences exist between developed and developing countries with regard to mortality, chronic diseases, and communicable diseases. Lack of adequate healthcare, poorer living conditions, and lack of health-related education all contribute to the poorer health experienced in developing countries. Factors such as population aging, the persistent spread of HIV / AIDS, and increased disease burden are also present in developing countries (Mathers, 2006). The following discussion presents the disparity in global health between poorer, developing countries and countries in the developed world.

One of the most prominent causes of death in developing countries with low incomes is mortality due to communicable diseases. Impoverished countries are more vulnerable to deaths from communicable diseases that are more successfully treated and prevented in wealthier, developed countries (Mathers et al., 2009). In particular, deaths among children under the age of five in developing countries, which account for seven out of 10 deaths among this age group, are largely due to infectious diseases. In fact half of these deaths among young children in developing countries are a result of merely four infectious diseases including diarrheal diseases, measles, malaria, and pneumonia (Mathers et al., 2009). It is expected that improvements in nutrition, drinking water quality, and sanitation in developing countries will result in a 27% decrease in mortality for children under five years of age from 1990 to 2015. However, this projected decline is nowhere near the targets for improvement outlined by the Millennium Development Goal, which aimed for a decrease of 67% (Mathers et al., 2009). With regard to HIV / AIDS, there has been a significant decrease in prevalence of HIV / AIDS and related mortality. However, certain regions are still experiencing devastating mortality due to HIV / AIDS, such as sub-Saharan Africa, where it resulted in 1.7 million deaths in 2004. This figure represented approximately 15% of all deaths in the region that year (Mathers, 2006).

Mortality due to non-communicable diseases also differs greatly between developed and developing countries. In 2004, non-communicable diseases were responsible for more than half of all the deaths in developing countries that were considered low to middle-income (Mathers et al., 2009). Non-communicable diseases are more prevalent among the elderly and presently more than one half of individuals in the world over the age of 65 live in developing countries. Therefore, these nations will be more burdened with non-communicable illnesses potentially without adequate systems in place for adequate treatment. Furthermore, adverse risk factors such as tobacco use and obesity increase the prevalence of these diseases, and these factors may be more prevalent in poorer, developing countries than in wealthier nations (Mathers et al., 2009). It was suggested by Mathers (2009) that adult mortality rates due to non-communicable diseases can be reversed and improved quite quickly through improvement in living conditions and health services, as was evident in the dramatic declines in adult mortality seen in Easter Europe during the final decade of the twentieth century after the fall of communism (Mathers et al., 2009).