2021 Top 10 Global Health Issues
Healthful Vitality | 07/18/2021 | 2021 Top 10 Global Health Issues
Disparities in healthcare access and outcomes, social isolation, violence and trauma, and food insecurity were among the top threats to public health in 2020. In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of Threats to Global Health for the world in 2021 that drives exhibiting the 2021 top 10 global health issues. As the COVID-19 situation hits millions of jobless, homeless, and depressed, the 2021 top 10 global health issues demonstrate immediate critical actions to address the weakness in the global health system. Undoubtedly, 2020 has been a devastating global health year.
Health services in all areas are having a hard time dealing with both to handle COVID-19 and to offer vital care to people. This pandemic, in another blow, affects slow down successful global health progress over the past two decades, for example, in combating infectious disease and enhancing maternal and child safety. Unfortunately, the shortcomings in medical systems across countries were at the mercy of the coronavirus disease, reported as of 16 July 2021 4.06 million deaths globally.
2021 Top 10 Global Health Issues
1. Access to Covid-19 trial, medicines and vaccines quickly
The WHO aims to provide fair access and smooth delivery of vaccines. It plans to deliver about 2 billion vaccines. Besides, 245 million would receive treatments; 500 million tests will be conducted on people in low- and middle-income nations to strengthen the healthcare systems required to support them.
2. Build solidarity for global security of health
Unfortunately, many countries currently do not have the capacities needed to detect and react to public health emergencies quickly. WHO plans to close this gap through collaboration with regional and country offices. Countries need to work together to build their health emergency preparedness. The most vulnerable populations, including urban environments, small island nations, and conflict settings, must receive support.
3. Health advancement for all
Countries should strengthen their systems to respond to emergencies like Covid-19 during the next year. Specifically, WHO will drive a global campaign to enhance and strengthen the global health workforce in 2021.
4. Coping with health inequities
To consider inequities in healthcare, the WHO will work with countries to address income, ethnicity, gender, education, employment conditions, disability, etc. Indeed, the factors contributing to the root causes of health inequity are diverse, complex, evolving, and interdependent. Therefore, understanding these causes and conditions of health inequities is significant to promoting health equity.
5. Global science and information leadership
The WHO added that it would monitor and control all scientific developments around Covid- 19 and other emergencies, exploiting gaps that would enable countries to use such progress to improve global health. Their health information systems and data would enhance the ability to report progress to health goals.
6. Renew efforts to combat diseases that are communicable
The WHO could help countries next year to obtain polio vaccines and other diseases for those who have missed because of the pandemic. To drive this effort, WHO will improve access to the HPV vaccines, which aims to end cervical cancer.
7. Drug resistance fight
Unquestionably, global efforts to end infectious diseases require we have effective medicines for treatments. The WHO stated it will enhance the global tracking and continue supporting national action plans to ensure the prevention of medical emergencies that includes antimicrobial resistance, thus to strengthen health systems and emergencies preparedness.
8. Solidarity act
Throughout the fight against COVID-19, WHO has highlighted the necessity to show more all-embracing solidarity – between nations, institutions, communities, and individuals, to close the cracks in the healthcare defenses on which the virus spreads. Therefore, in 2021 WHO will prioritize building national capacity through its work with the Member States and new initiatives, including developing new scientific collaborations and the WHO Academy, which has a roster of subject matter experts to guide.
9. Prevention and treatment of NCDs and conditions of mental health
The WHO has indicated that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were responsible for seven of the top 10 deaths causes in 2019 and 2020. In 2021 it is important to ensure that screening and disease treatment programs are easy to access to the needy. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that NCDs are responsible for 7 out of 10 deaths worldwide. In addition, the CDC statistics reveal that 85% of premature NCD deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. As a result, CDC is working with its global partners to reduce the impact of NCDs: cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and injury.
10. Better build up
Covid-19 gave us a chance to build a better, greener, healthier world in 2021 and ahead. According to WHO the manifesto for a Healthy Recovery from Covid-19 involves addressing several issues, including climate change and health, reducing air pollution, and improving air quality and WHO seems committed in making this happen.
The 2021 top 10 global health issues: Immediate steps needed to address the issues
Indeed, there are immediate steps need to be taken to address global health issues and concerns. With an annual budget of $7.96 billion (2020-2021), WHO as well as its partner organizations are committed to assisting countries to strengthen the pandemic and other emergency preparedness. Global public health organizations at their higher administration and policy involvements require effective governance and accountability in efficiently tackling the world’s most complex challenges.
However, according to a Newscko report, when it comes to global health, several countries, particularly poor ones, currently rely on the WHO for medical help and supplies. Yet, WHO failed to save lives in many ways. Indeed, “The attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health,” is the objective of WHO as its Constitution states, therefore, it is important to bring together countries and governments as a whole, not just including the health sector, in developing a strong health systems and this requires support from all stakeholders. Certainly, it is inspiring to recognize WHO’s efforts in providing global leadership on the important global health issues of the time that are science and data based.
Did WHO fail in managing the Covid-19 crises initially?
It is important to ask: Did WHO fail in managing the Covid-19 crises initially? It looks like it failed. For instance, when managing crises, good leadership needs to act with urgency and communicate with transparency, two vital principles of effective leadership of crises management. The WHO seems lacked to act with urgency and to communicate with transparency.
According to the National Institutes of Health, though Chinese officials and the WHO declared that the pandemic situation was “under control” throughout December 2019, the outbreak steadily went out of control, impacting the health, economy, politics, culture, and psychology of nearly the whole global system.
In fact, as a leading global health organization, WHO should strive for advanced technologies and advanced urban architecture among others to achieve the goal, for example, with emerging technologies like Amazon’s AI in healthcare which is making notable progress for the future of healthcare to empower efficient patient care and using Urban Architecture to build health-friendly living environments as most of the impacted people are in the slums of overcrowded cities.