{"id":161297,"date":"2019-04-05T17:27:41","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T17:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/why-global-health-is-good-for-everyone\/"},"modified":"2024-01-29T14:50:26","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T14:50:26","slug":"global-health-good-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/global-health-good-for-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Why global health is good for everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is global health?<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s a big year for global health so ONE is going to be talking about it a lot. But before we jump into the nitty gritty statistics or the importance of getting funding for the world\u2019s most innovative partnerships, let\u2019s talk about what global health actually is!<\/p>\n

Global health is about improving people\u2019s health worldwide, reducing inequality and, protecting societies from global threats, such as preventable diseases, that don\u2019t stop at national borders.<\/p>\n

So why is it important?<\/h3>\n

We are at a tipping point. In 2017, nearly one million people died from AIDS-related causes globally and another 1.8 million contracted HIV. After 10 years of steady decline, malaria is back on the rise, especially among children under 5 years old, who account for two-thirds of all malaria deaths. Though more than 10 million people contract TB every year, nearly 40% of those are \u201cmissed\u201d \u2013 that is almost 4 million people left undiagnosed, untreated, and therefore, contagious.<\/p>\n

As a global community, we all benefit when our neighbours are healthy. Access to prevention and treatment should be a right, not a privilege. Yet, so many of our community members cannot enjoy this right because of prohibitive costs, distance, or stigma and discrimination.<\/p>\n

If people can access affordable healthcare, they can invest in bettering their community: kids can attend school, adults can pursue careers, families can enjoy their time together, the list goes on. Quality of life skyrockets when prevention and treatment are affordable and accessible.<\/p>\n

Human rights always come first. But it is important to realize that ensuring our global community is healthy, educated and empowered has another benefit: economic growth. Failing to protect health could quickly thwart this potential. The 2014 Ebola epidemic is a staggering illustration of the economic consequences of just one outbreak of disease: in 2015, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone lost US$2.2 billion in gross domestic product, threatening economic stability and private sector growth in the region.<\/p>\n

We know that investments made in health today will pay dividends tomorrow.<\/p>\n