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.

Background: Many states in the United States (US) have introduced barriers to impede voting among individuals from socio-economically disadvantaged groups. This may reduce representation thereby decreasing access to lifesaving goods, such as health insurance. Methods: We used cross-sectional data from 242,727 adults in the 50 states and District of Columbia participating in the US 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). To quantify access to voting, the Cost of Voting Index (COVI), a global measure of barriers to voting within a state during a US election was used.

COP26 is the 2021 United Nations annual climate change conference. COP stands for Conference of the Parties. Parties are the signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - a treaty agreed in 1994 which has 197 Parties (196 countries and the EU). The 2021 conference, hosted by the UK, together with our partners Italy, in Glasgow, will be the 26th meeting of the Parties, which is why it's called COP26.

Elsevier,

The Journal of Climate Change and Health,
Volume 3,
2021,
100035

Both short-term and chronic exposure to fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) are known to cause a host of adverse health outcomes, including premature death. This paper will review sources, health impacts and health inequities associated with PM2.5, and will frame PM2.5 as both a social and structural determinant of health.
This Article supports SDGs 3 and 10 by showing substantial differences in the age-standardised mortality rate due to police violence over time and by racial and ethnic groups within the USA.
Elsevier,

The Lancet Global Health, Volume 9, October 2021

This Viewpoint supports SDGs 3 and 10 by discussing how common practices in academic global health are peppered with epistemic wrongs that lead to or exacerbate epistemic injustice; for example, members of the global heath community often witness a cycle in which researchers assume that locals in marginalised areas and members of marginalised groups do not have the capacity to contribute to research, and thereby bypass such people's participation.
Elsevier,

Neglected Tropical Diseases and Other Infectious Diseases Affecting the Heart, 2022, Pages 61-71

Discusses the epidemiology, pathophysiology, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of Lyme carditis. Supports SDG By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
Elsevier,

Neglected Tropical Diseases and Other Infectious Diseases Affecting the Heart
2022, Pages 125-136

This content aligns with Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing by highlighting the cardiovascular risks of HIV.
Elsevier,

Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics for Smart Healthcare, Next Gen Tech Driven Personalized Med&Smart Healthcare, 2021, Pages 1-9

The value-based health-care strategy imposes significant challenges to the adoption of medical technologies in the health-care domain. The recent pandemic of COVID-19 also proved that the deployment of medical informatics in creative ways toward innovation and bold solution to new problems and cases is a vital priority for the future of healthcare. The goal of SDG target 3d. is to strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks (by using medical innovative technologies) and SDG target 9b. to support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities
This Article supports SDGs 3 and 10, assessing whether people ageing with HIV have more drug-drug interactions than those without HIV, and whether this confers greater risk of hospitalisation.
An Article in support of SDG 3, assessing the current sex-specific HIV burden in 204 countries and territories and measuring progress in the control of the epidemic.

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