The World Health Organization has unveiled a shocking global report highlighting extreme health inequities across different countries. Social conditions like housing, education, and job opportunities are dramatically reducing life expectancy in poorer nations. Children in disadvantaged countries are 13 times more likely to die before age 5 compared to wealthier regions. Addressing these systemic inequalities could potentially save 1.8 million children's lives annually.
May 07, 2025
Health inequities shortening lives by more than 30 years in poor countries: WHO
"Our
world is an unequal one. Where we are born, grow, live, work and age
significantly influence our health and well-being" - Dr. Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General
Low
social determinants of health are shortening the lives of people in poor countries
by more than 30 years worldwide, according to a global report by the World
Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday.
Key
Points
1 Poorest countries experience 33-year shorter life
expectancy
2 3.8 billion people lack adequate social protection
3 Children in poor nations 13 times more likely to
die before age 5
The
WHO defines social determinants of health as conditions in which people are
born, grow, live, work, and age.
The
report noted that beyond the health sector, factors such as lack of quality
housing, education, and job opportunities can dramatically reduce healthy life
expectancy.
It
said that people in the country with the lowest life expectancy will, on
average, live 33 years shorter than those born in the country with the highest
life expectancy.
“Children
born in poorer countries are 13 times more likely to die before the age of 5
than in wealthier countries,” the report said.
Women
from disadvantaged groups are also more likely to die from pregnancy-related
causes.
“Our
world is an unequal one. Where we are born, grow, live, work and age
significantly influence our health and well-being,” said WHO Director-General
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Addressing
the interlinked social determinants” can help, he added.
Further,
the report showed that 3.8 billion people worldwide are deprived of adequate
social protection coverage, such as child/paid sick leave benefits, with a
direct and lasting impact on their health outcomes.
High
debt burdens have been crippling the capacity of governments to invest in these
services. As a result, the total value of interest payments made by the world’s
75 poorest countries has increased four-fold in the last decade.
Worryingly,
the report also cited “sufficient evidence to show that health inequities
within countries are often widening”.
Closing
the gap and enhancing equity between the poorest and wealthiest sectors of the
population within low- and-middle-income countries can help save the lives of
1.8 million children annually, revealed modelling studies.
The
report also provides evidence-based strategies and policy recommendations to
help countries improve health outcomes for all.
WHO emphasises that measures to address income
inequality, structural discrimination, conflict, and climate disruptions are
key to overcoming deep-seated health inequities.
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