Despite incredible improvements in health since 1950, there are still a number of challenges, which should have been easy to solve. Consider the following:

• One billion people lack access to health care systems.
• Around 11 million children under the age of 5 die from malnutrition and mostly preventable diseases, each year.
• In 2002, almost 11 million people died of infectious diseases alone, far more than the number killed in the natural or man-made catastrophes that make headlines. (These are the latest figures presented by the World Health Organization.)
• AIDS/HIV has spread rapidly. UNAIDS estimates for 2007 that there are roughly:
  • 32.8 million living with HIV
  • 2.5 million new infections of HIV
  • 2 million deaths from AIDS
• There are 8.8 million new cases of Tuberculosis (TB) and 1.75 million deaths from TB, each year.
• Malaria causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least 1 million deaths, annually.
• More than half a million people, mostly children, died from measles in 2003 even though effective immunization costs just 0.30 US dollars per person, and has been available for over 40 years.

These and other diseases kill more people each year than conflict alone.

Sources:mostly World Health Organization. See articles below for sources and references.

Why so many needless deaths? The collection of articles below, hope to help shed light on this tragedy.

Global Health Overview

This article, originally written for Risk Group LLC looks at some global aspects of health issues, such as the impact of poverty, the nature of patent rules at the WTO, and pharmaceutical company interest, as well as some global health initiatives. Last updated Sunday, February 17, 2008.

Read article: Global Health Overview

Diseases—Ignored Global Killers

This article looks into a number of issues of global diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS/HIV, and the global response to them. For example, many people cannot afford medicines for these or other diseases, even though some are easily treatable. Last updated Sunday, February 17, 2008.

Read article: Diseases—Ignored Global Killers

AIDS around the world

This article looks specifically at AIDS, and the global reaction to it. It seems to have only become a global interest when some rich countries were threatened by it. Global initiatives have been welcome but slow to get off the ground, while access to drugs and medicines is proving difficult, and, political. Last updated Sunday, February 17, 2008.

Read article: AIDS around the world

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