The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) published a list of disorders that may turn out to be the most serious health issues in numerous countries and should thus be closely monitored.
Long COVID-19
Long COVID-19 is certainly a health problem to maintain a close eye on in 2023. Long COVID-19 has a negative impact on a person’s ability to participate in school, employment, or relationships for months at a time.
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People with long COVID-19 need diagnostic and proper rehabilitation support from primary care physicians. There is a need for more research to find effective treatments as well as preventive measures to reduce the risk of developing long COVID-19 (1✔ ✔Trusted Source
Estimated Global Proportions of Individuals With Persistent Fatigue, Cognitive, and Respiratory Symptom Clusters Following Symptomatic COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021
Go to source
).Mental Health
Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability worldwide, with no sign of a decline since 1990. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, war, and violence on mental health remains of utmost importance, especially understanding how these have impacted the prevalence and burden of mental disorders in 2022 onward and how countries should be adapting their mental health response accordingly.
Current studies investigate childhood sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, and bullying victimization as risk factors for mental disorders. Going forward, better understanding of the other risk factors for mental disorders is needed along with how these vary across different populations. Offering the best opportunities for prevention at the population level is top priority (2✔ ✔Trusted Source
Global Burden of Disease (GBD)
Go to source).
Impact of Climate Change
Climate change is already impacting the health of millions of people around the world, and it will worsen over the course of this century. People are experiencing both the direct effects of extreme heat that is measured and a myriad of indirect effects. Flooding can force people from their homes and affect their mental health, droughts and storms can impact food security and water availability, and wildfire smoke episodes can increase air pollution. As the pandemic has taught the world, preparedness is key, and we are not prepared for the health impacts of a warmer climate.
Most of the emphasis to date on climate change has been on what we call mitigation: reducing the emissions that lead to global warming. Yet to date these efforts have been far too modest. We are now at a point where climate change is clearly with us, and much more attention needs to be put on minimizing the impacts on global health through adaptation or enhancing resilience.
One aspect of this is improving overall health and enhancing socioeconomic development because we know that those who are more vulnerable will suffer the most. In addition, there are technological solutions that can support adaptation, such as the use of drought-resistant crops, increasing vegetation in cities to reduce the urban heat island effect, or repurposing land use to adapt to rising sea levels.
Air pollution is one of the leading global risk factors that we evaluate and is currently responsible for about 8% of all global mortality, yet it is a problem with known solutions. Increasing the speed at which we address air pollution will save lives. Those solutions will move the world closer to the net-zero carbon emissions goals that we need to ultimately address the root causes of climate change (3✔ ✔Trusted Source
Adapting Our Cities to the Future
Go to source).
Cardiovascular Disease
Ischemic heart disease and stroke are the main causes of death worldwide, accounting for 28% of total fatalities in 2021. Additionally, cardiovascular diseases substantially contribute to health loss and the economic burden on health care systems. Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing modifiable cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, dietary risks, smoking, and air pollution (4✔ ✔Trusted Source
Effects of elevated systolic blood pressure on ischemic heart disease: a Burden of Proof study
Go to source
).
Lower Respiratory Infections
Lower respiratory infections (LRI), particularly respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza, will be major health concerns in 2023.
There was a general decline in influenza and RSV infections in 2020 due to COVID-19 mitigation measures such as mask use and social distancing. With the relaxation of these measures, many young children who haven’t been exposed to RSV in the past couple of years are being infected, resulting in RSV outbreaks. Countries have also seen an increase in influenza cases of all ages.
Annual influenza vaccination provides an opportunity to reduce the LRI burden attributable to flu. There is no vaccine yet to prevent RSV, but promising vaccine trials are underway (5✔ ✔Trusted Source
The race to make vaccines for a dangerous respiratory virus
Go to source).
After experiencing significant disruptions to health care systems worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in respiratory infections and other communicable diseases have added to the existing burden of chronic non-communicable diseases. This creates a dual burden of disease exacerbated by social inequalities observed globally.
Role of Poverty in Health
Poverty appears to be the root cause of health disparities. Climate change and rising violence have exacerbated the unequal distribution of resources. Low- and middle-income countries experience worse health outcomes than high-income countries. The life expectancy is 34 years lower, the under-5 mortality around 100 times higher, deaths due to interpersonal violence and suicide are 30 times higher, and deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are 12 times higher. There is an urgent need to address the impact of poverty on health, life, and death.
Strengthening Health Systems
Global health system strengthening is a crucial component of what is required for resilient health systems. This will be particularly relevant as countries refocus their resources and attention after the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A longer-term commitment from donors and governments is needed. Financial and human resources, governance structures, management and information systems are required to ensure that interventions are set up for long-term sustainability and can deliver the outcomes that are aspired to across health systems.
Given the immense strain of COVID-19 on primary care and hospital systems in the past, attention should be paid to building back up the health care system and enabling frontline workers to do their jobs effectively. Public health leaders and policymakers need to reflect on lessons learned from the pandemic to prevent health care system collapse in the next crisis and to ensure that people who need care can access quality health care.
Diabetes
Diabetes affects around 422 million people globally, with the majority residing in low- and middle-income countries, and diabetes is directly responsible for 1.5 million fatalities per year.
Population-based interventions such as taxes and incentives, more informative food labeling, improving the built environment to facilitate exercise, and greater advocacy to inform people of the risk diabetes poses, combined with expanded health education to combat diabetes risk factors, are the best options. Policies aimed to help avoid weight gain and improve dietary quality are also important.
Another important aspect is improving the response of health systems in terms of access and quality care. These should include universal access to low-cost insulin and oral anti-diabetic medication to decrease avoidable deaths from acute complications. Health systems should also strive to furnish feedback from their administrative data systems to providers to help orient diabetes care (6✔ ✔Trusted Source
Burden of diabetes and hyperglycaemia in adults in the Americas, 1990″2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
Go to source).
Road Accidents
Road traffic accidents are still a serious and preventable problem. Road traffic accidents are the main cause of death among those aged 15 to 49.
Helmets, seatbelts, airbags, speed limits, and laws against drunk driving are effective interventions. However, execution is not the only factor that defines their performance; human conduct must comply with those policies in order for them to be effective.
Dementia
Anticipated trends in population growth and population aging are expected to lead to large increases in the number of people affected by dementia globally, underscoring the public health importance of dementia. To adequately care for those with dementia, appropriate planning for the necessary supports and services required is needed.
Interventions targeting modifiable risk factors, such as low education, smoking, and high blood sugar, have the potential to reduce the overall societal burden and should be prioritized (7✔ ✔Trusted Source
Estimation of the global prevalence of dementia in 2019 and forecasted prevalence in 2050: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
Go to source).
Aging of the Population
Adapting health-care systems to meet the requirements of older people should be a top priority in 2023. Globally, the proportion of the population that is above 65 is expected to increase in the coming years. While most attention has historically been placed on diseases affecting children, it will be important to begin thinking about and planning for some of the forthcoming changes in demography, particularly in low- and middle-income nations.
References :
- Estimated Global Proportions of Individuals With Persistent Fatigue, Cognitive, and Respiratory Symptom Clusters Following Symptomatic COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021
– (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2797443) - Global Burden of Disease (GBD)
– (https://www.healthdata.org/gbd/2019) - Adapting Our Cities to the Future
– (https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/adapting-our-cities-future) - Effects of elevated systolic blood pressure on ischemic heart disease: a Burden of Proof study
– (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9556328/) - The race to make vaccines for a dangerous respiratory virus
– (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03704-y) - Burden of diabetes and hyperglycaemia in adults in the Americas, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
– (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(22)00186-3/fulltext) - Estimation of the global prevalence of dementia in 2019 and forecasted prevalence in 2050: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
– (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(21)00249-8/fulltext)
Source: Medindia
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