The Facts About The Global Health Crisis

The Global Health Crisis—the growing gap between the health of the few and the health of the many—is humanity’s greatest social justice challenge in the 21st century. Here are some of the main reasons why:

1. It’s Humanity’s Leading Cause of Death.
War? Terrorism? Genocide? These are all major causes of death but they pale in comparison to the number of people who die from global health inequity. According to public health experts more than 400 million people have died since 1990 from global health inequity.



2. It Drives Inequality.
Loss of life isn’t the only effect of the global health crisis. Global health inequity is also a major driver of inequality. More than 150 million people are driven into poverty due to catastrophic health care costs every year, and hundreds of millions more face huge financial hardships.



3. It’s Getting Worse.
As more people lose their lives and are pushed into poverty each year due to health care costs, fewer people are able to afford or access the health services they need. This leads to more inequity and even more loss lives lost. In 1990, 18 million people died of global health inequity; today that number is more than 20 million deaths.

To solve this crisis we need to ensure that all people have a basic right to things such as health care, medicines, and social services. Many places around the world, rich and poor, have already begun to do this but to truly change things at the scale and speed needed, we have to build a massive global movement.

Sources:

"Global Inequity Death Toll: Targeting global health equity and estimating the burden of inequity." J. Garay et. al. APHA Meeting. Nov 2-6, 2013.

"Health Financing." World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/gho/health_financing/en Accessed Jan 5, 2015.