Health and population

Health and population dynamics are intertwined, embodying an intricate relationship with significant implications on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Health is fundamentally at the center of these 17 global goals, aimed to transform the world by 2030. Specifically, Goal 3 endeavors to "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages." It acknowledges that health is pivotal to human life quality, social cohesion, and sustainable development. Inextricably linked to this are the complexities of population dynamics, including growth rates, age structure, fertility and mortality rates, and migration patterns.

With the world's population projected to exceed 9.7 billion by 2050, the pressure on health systems will undoubtedly escalate. The demographic transition, with an aging population and an increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases, poses new challenges for health systems globally. Additionally, areas with high fertility rates often overlap with extreme poverty, resulting in heightened health risks, including higher maternal and child mortality rates, malnutrition, and infectious diseases.

Moreover, rapid urbanization and migration present both opportunities and threats to health. While urban areas may provide better access to healthcare, they also harbor risks of disease transmission, air and water pollution, and social determinants of health like inadequate housing and social inequality. Simultaneously, migrants often face disproportionate health risks due to unstable living conditions, exploitation, and limited access to healthcare services.

Achieving the SDGs will necessitate comprehensive approaches that consider the intricate interplay of health and population dynamics. It means strengthening health systems, promoting universal health coverage, and addressing social determinants of health. It also implies crafting policies that recognize demographic realities and foster an environment conducive to sustainable development. Only by understanding and harnessing these dynamics can the world meaningfully progress towards realizing the SDGs, ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all.

In 2016, WHO adopted a strategy for the elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030. Africa, and more specifically, sub-Saharan Africa, carries a substantial portion of the global burden of viral hepatitis, especially chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections. The task that lies ahead for sub-Saharan Africa to achieve elimination is substantial, but not insurmountable. Major developments in the management of hepatitis C have put elimination within reach, but several difficulties will need to be navigated on the path to elimination.
HIV Rapid Test being administered (Equality Michigan viaWikimedia Commons)
Background Multistage, stepwise HIV testing and treatment procedures can result in lost opportunities to provide timely antiretroviral therapy (ART). Incomplete engagement of patients along the care cascade translates into high preventable mortality. We aimed to identify whether a structural intervention to streamline testing and linkage to HIV health care would improve testing completeness, ART initiation, and viral suppression and reduce mortality. Methods We did a cluster-randomised, controlled trial in 12 hospitals in Guangxi, China.

Background & Aims Coffee has anti-inflammatory and hepato-protective properties. In the general population, drinking ≥3 cups of coffee/day has been associated with a 14% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between coffee consumption and the risk of all-cause mortality in patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV).

This book chapter ties into SDG10 and 13 by investigating how climate change is causing environmental issues, has direct consequences on public health and indirect consequences due to food insecurity, stress migration, and collective violence. There is substantial social injustice both at global and local level, with climate change having a disproportionate adverse effect on poor people, minorities, women, children and older people.
This chapter aligns with the SDG goal 3 of good health and wellbeing by examining the public health and economic burden of hepatitis C infection in developing countries.
Lancet Oncology commission report
A fundamental shift in how cancer research is conducted and how cancer care is delivered in the United States is required in order to deliver on the Cancer Moonshot initiative, according to a major new report called The Lancet Oncology Commission: Future Research Priorities in the USA. Authored by over 50 leading oncologists, including members of leading US cancer organizations, the report sets out 13 key priority areas, each with measurable goals, to focus the $2 billion of funding released to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as part of the 21st Century Cures Act.
Elsevier,

Lancet Oncology Commission, November 2017

Lancet Oncology commission report
The report is authored by over 50 leading oncologists, including members of leading US cancer organizations, and sets out 13 key priority areas, each with measurable goals, to focus the $2 billion of funding released to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as part of the 21st Century Cures Act. The report sets out a detailed road map to deliver on the Blue Ribbon Panel recommendations, including a focus on prevention, a new model for drug discovery and development, a vast expansion of patient access to clinical trials, and an emphasis on targeted interventions to improve cancer care for underserved groups, specifically children, cancer survivors and minority groups.
Global sustainability problems pose serious challenges for humanity. In handling these problems education for sustainable development (ESD) is seen as important. Different key competences that ESD should focus on have been introduced, such as the ability to deal with future dimensions. Still, studies indicate that future dimensions are not always included in ESD and that many young people are pessimistic concerning the global future. Therefore, one could argue that a focus on anticipatory emotions, especially hope, should be included in ESD.
Infectious diseases have proven to be remarkably resilient foes of human health and so the prevention and control of infectious diseases have been attracting the attention of all countries over the world. Vaccination is an effective way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. However, vaccination is a long-standing social dilemmas due to the vaccine's risk by itself and the spread of infectious diseases in the population depends on not only the pathogen itself, but also the impact of social network structures.
Background far too many women continue to die from pregnancy and childbirth related causes. While rates have decreased in the past two decades, some areas of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa continue to have very high maternal mortality rates. One intervention that has been demonstrated to decrease maternal mortality is use of family planning and modern contraception, yet rates of use in sub-Saharan countries with the highest rates of maternal death remain very low.

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