Improve health in the world (or almost) - Corriere del Ticino

src=”http://www.cdt.ch/images/dot.png” class=”c10″ Into NEW YORK – Improve the conditions of infants and their mothers , lower rates of major diseases, but the inequities between the health conditions of the poor and to the rich countries of the planet remain, and are unlikely to be overcome in due time. That described by the UN annual report on the state of health of the planet is the classic glass half full, which will see many more efforts to be filled in time for the Millennium Goals desired by the UN.

Into No doubt, the report explains, some indicators have improved. For example, if in 1990 the difference between 25% of the countries most in health and 25% in the worst conditions was 171 deaths per thousand population in 2011 had fallen to 107. The probability of a child dying within five years, however, remains 16 times higher in the poorest countries , and the MDG of reducing it by two thirds by 2015 will not be achieved. A similar for mothers: in 1990 there were 935 more deaths per hundred thousand pregnancies in poor countries than the rich, and now I’m down to 512, but the decline of 3% per year is considered too slow.

Into “The intensive efforts in recent years to achieve the objectives have clearly improved the health of the world population – comments Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General – but with less than a thousand days until the deadline it is time to ask whether these efforts have failed to ma ke a difference. “

Into Regarding diseases, highlights the relationship, there is one that “puts together” all countries, diabetes. 10% of the world population suffers from it, and the difference between the different WHO regions between 9 and 11%. The TB in the world fell by 40%, while the gap in new HIV infections has shrunk from 360 to 261 per hundred thousand inhabitants, but these improvements are not evenly distributed among the nations: “There are still many differences – confirms Ties Boerma , who heads the department of statistics of WHO – both between countries than within them. “

Into A front on which absolutely must take action to continue to close the gap of the differences is access to care. 50% of the countries surveyed in the report in fact access to half of essential drugs that would be needed.