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.

For International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2021, Stacy Masucci, publisher for bioscience and translational medicine at Elsevier speaks to Richard Mankin and Kate Nash about the challenges, barriers and opportunities for people who live with disabilities in the context of the global pandemic.
Elsevier,

Child and Adolescent Online Risk Exposure An Ecological Perspective 2021, Pages 255-281

This book chapter advances SDG3 Good Health and Wellbeing and SDG 10 Reducing Inequalities by reviewing existing literature examining youth with disabilities involved in cyberbullying and/or cybervictimization.
This chapter aligns with the SDG goal 3 of good health and wellbeing by showing the use of senolytic therapies for liver disease and inflammation.
Elsevier,

The Lancet Public Health, Volume 6, November 2021

A Viewpoint on Europe's response to climate change, in the context of SDGs 12, 13, and 17, focusing specifically on the use of region-specific indicators to address the main challenges and opportunities of Europe's response in the context of public and planetary health.
Introduction: Air pollution may play an important role in the development of lung cancer in people who have never smoked, especially among East Asian women. The aim of this study was to compare cumulative ambient air pollution exposure between ever and never smokers with lung cancer. Methods: A consecutive case series of never and ever smokers with newly diagnosed lung cancer were compared regarding their sex, race, and outdoor and household air pollution exposure.
Elsevier,

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Challenging Issues in the Modern Era of Individualized Medicine, 2022, Pages 187-216

This chapter aligns with the SDG goal 3 of good health and wellbeing by showing the rate of prevalence, pathophysiological mechanisms, diagnosis and risk stratification, and therapeutic options of NAFLD in women with PCOS.

Background: Nearly 40% of the world's population is exposed daily to household air pollution. The relative impact of prenatal and postnatal household air pollution exposure on early childhood pneumonia, a leading cause of mortality, is unknown. Research Question: Are prenatal or postnatal household air pollution, or both, associated with pneumonia risk in the first year of life? Study Design and Methods: The Ghana Randomized Air Pollution and Health Study enrolled 1,414 nonsmoking, pregnant women before 24 weeks’ gestation with prospective follow-up to the child's age of 1 year.

Background: The announcement of China's 2060 carbon neutrality goal has drawn the world's attention to the specific technology pathway needed to achieve this pledge. We aimed to evaluate the health co-benefits of carbon neutrality under different technology pathways, which could help China to achieve the carbon neutrality goal, air quality goal, and Healthy China goal in a synergetic manner that includes health in the decision-making process.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on the self-reported perception of physical and mental health, in a cohort of teenagers. To assess the extent to which these effects are perceived as detrimental. Non-directional Hypothesis - the perception of physical and mental health will change over the duration of the eight weeks, due to the effects of the lockdown, as a result of COVID-19.

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