WHO estimates that better use of existing preventive measures could reduce the global burden of disease by as much as 70%.
2008 World Health Report.
Accelerating the improvement in lowering deaths from infectious disease. The top chart shows that acute respiratory infections, diarrheal disease, Malaria, HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis kill about 9 million people in 2009. Progress in developing vaccines to treat Malaria is helping. Infectious disease is an area where a lot of deaths could be avoided.
In the year 2000, indoor air pollution from solid fuel use was responsible for more than 1.6 million annual deaths and 2.7% of the global burden of disease (in Disability-Adjusted Life Years or DALYs). This makes this risk factor the second biggest environmental contributor to ill health, behind unsafe water and sanitation.Every year, indoor air pollution is responsible for nearly 800,000 deaths due to pneumonia among children under five years of age. The solution is to make burning solid fuel indoors less deadly or to avoid it all together.
Outdoor air pollution was found to account for approximately 1.4% of total mortality, 0.5% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and 2% of all cardiopulmonary disease (World Health Report 2002).
Newly Identified Persistent Free Radicals
This is mainly from 2.5 to 10 micron particulates from the burning of coal and oil.
Persistent free radicals (PFRs) — form on airborne nanoparticles and other fine particle residues as gases cool in smokestacks, automotive exhaust pipes and household chimneys. Particles that contain metals, such as copper and iron, are the most likely to persist, he said. Unlike other atmospheric free radicals, PFRs can linger in the air and travel great distances.Poor water quality continues to pose a major threat to human health. Diarrheal disease alone amounts to an estimated 4.1 % of the total DALY global burden of disease and is responsible for the deaths of 1.8 million people every year (WHO, 2004). It was estimated that 88% of that burden is attributable to unsafe water supply, sanitation and hygiene and is mostly concentrated on children in developing countries.
Once PFRs are inhaled, Dellinger suspects they are absorbed into the lungs and other tissues where they contribute to DNA and other cellular damage. Epidemiological studies suggest that more than 500,000 Americans die each year from cardiopulmonary disease linked to breathing fine particle air pollution, he says. About 10 to 15 percent of lung cancers are diagnosed in nonsmokers, according to the American Cancer Society. However, Dellinger stresses additional research is necessary before scientists can definitely link airborne PFRs to these diseases.
The millennium goals for 2015: (saving lives on the cheap)
* halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to improved water supply;
* halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to both improved water supply and improved sanitation.
The results of this analysis point out that achieving the target for both water supply and sanitation would bring economic benefits; US$1 invested would give an economic return of between US$3 and US$34, depending on the region.
6 million deaths could be avoided by stopping the use of Tobacco.
Technology for helping Reduce Deaths
A set of 15 proteins found in urine can distinguish healthy individuals from those who have coronary artery disease (CAD), a new study has found. Coronary artery disease is the most common type of cardiovascular disease, occurring in about 5 to 9% (depending on sex and race) of people aged 20 and older.
Researchers from Imperial College in London, England, isolated the receptor in the lungs that triggers the immune overreaction to flu.
The flu kills 250,000 to 500,000 people in an average year with epidemics reaching 1 to 2 million deaths (other than the Spanish flu which was more severeCost effective disease prevention
PLEASE read this full article at NextBigFuture and if time permitting here is 48 page world Health Organization study on current technology interventions to reduce road deaths and injury
This report is VERY encouraging considering the USA has increased Life Expectancy and deaths
All of the sex, race, and Hispanic origin groups described in this report showed significant decreases in the age-adjusted death rate in 2007 from 2006...
No doubt we can bring the same prosperity to all nations...