September 26, 2017 – Global Diseases

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Anchor lead: A worldwide survey indicates health problems that are increasing, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Taking a look at death and disease around the world reveals trends that are important from a public health perspective. The recent Global Burden of Disease study published in the Lancet reveals several such areas. That’s according to Mike Klag, dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Klag: These data also emphasize the increasing importance of depression and mental illness in terms of quality of life in terms of disability adjusted life years. These are conditions that are growing around the world and we need cost-effective interventions to help stem that burden of disease.  :17

Klag notes that we can all learn from this study.

Klag: There are countries that are doing well, where their life expectancy is improving at a much higher level than you would expect from their level of development. We can learn from those countries what it is that helps prevent noncommunicable diseases, and I think that’s the next step of these analyses.  :16

At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.