Global health

Abstract

This entry from Our World in Data provides a comprehensive overview of global health trends and determinants. The article focuses on long-term cross-country data from mortality and morbidity tables, analyzing trends in life expectancy, child mortality, maternal mortality, and burden of disease. It highlights the remarkable progress made in improving health outcomes over the past centuries, particularly in developing countries, while acknowledging persistent inequalities between high-income and low-income countries. The article also explores the relationship between healthcare investment and health outcomes, presenting evidence that suggests a strong positive correlation, particularly at low levels of baseline expenditure. The entry further examines the financing of healthcare systems around the world, discussing the expansion of public expenditure, the increasing coverage of essential health services, and the challenges of medicine availability and affordability in developing countries. Finally, the article explores the role of public policy and regulation in shaping health outcomes, focusing on examples such as vaccination campaigns, the Affordable Care Act in the United States, and the eradication of smallpox. – AI-generated abstract.