Translated with AI
A person born in a rich country can live three decades longer than a resident of a poor country who does not have safe housing, opportunities for a good education and decent employment, according to a report published on Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN press service reports.
“Today’s world is deeply entrenched in inequalities. Where we are born, grow up, live, work and age greatly influences our health and well-being,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Health status is closely linked to the degree of social disadvantage and the level of discrimination, the authors of the study found. Inequality is especially evident in population groups that face discrimination and marginalization. For example, representatives of indigenous peoples have a lower life expectancy than their peers from other social and ethnic backgrounds.
Key targets under threat
It is the first study of its kind since 2008, when the WHO Commission on the Social Characteristics of Health published a report setting out targets for 2040 to reduce gaps between and within countries in life expectancy and child and maternal mortality. The new data suggest that the targets are unlikely to be met.
Currently, children born in poor countries are 13 times more likely to die before the age of five than their peers in rich countries. By closing the gap and increasing equality between the poorest and richest in low- and middle-income countries, the lives of almost two million children a year could be saved, the report says.
Between 2000 and 2023, maternal mortality worldwide fell by 40 percent, but the vast majority of deaths, 94 percent, still occur in low-income countries.
Break the vicious circle
WHO highlights the need to tackle income inequality, structural discrimination, the impact of conflict and climate shocks – all of which are critical to addressing the root causes of health inequalities.
Climate change is expected to push between 68 and 135 million people into extreme poverty over the next five years. Already, 3.8 billion people worldwide lack adequate social protection, including paid sick leave or parental leave, which directly impacts their health. Meanwhile, rising debt burdens are making it difficult for governments in poor countries to invest in basic social services: in the last decade, total debt payments in the world’s 75 poorest countries have quadrupled.
The authors of the WHO report call for joint action by national and local authorities, representatives of the scientific and health sectors, civil society and the private sector. In their opinion, it is necessary to combat economic inequality and invest in social infrastructure and universal public services; eliminate structural discrimination, the causes and consequences of conflicts, emergencies and forced migration; and develop forms of governance aimed at eliminating the social causes that undermine children's health.
