Global burden of disease
Encyclopedia
The global burden of disease (GBD) is a comprehensive regional and global assessment of mortality
and disability
from 107 diseases and injuries and ten risk factor
s. The GBD is assessed using the GBD study by the World Health Organization
(WHO), and is an example of an evidence-based input to public health
policy debate. The aim of the study was to provide information and projections about disease burden on a global scale.
The GBD project was initiated in 1992 and is currently a collaborative effort between more than 800 experts worldwide, including researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health
, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
(IHME), WHO and the World Bank
. The original project estimated health
gaps using disability-adjusted life years
(DALYs) for eight regions of the world in 1990. It provides a standardised approach to epidemiological assessment and uses a standard unit, the disability-adjusted life year (DALY), to aid comparisons.
The GBD has three specific aims:
The burden of disease can be viewed as the gap between current health status and an ideal situation in which everyone lives into old age free of disease and disability. Causes of the gap are premature mortality, disability and exposure to certain risk factors that contribute to illness.
The GBD is now in its fifth round. The work will quantify the burdens of more than 400 major causes of death and disability disaggregated by 21 geographic regions and various age-sex groups. Risk factors are evaluated and projections to are being made.
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
and disability
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
from 107 diseases and injuries and ten risk factor
Risk factor
In epidemiology, a risk factor is a variable associated with an increased risk of disease or infection. Sometimes, determinant is also used, being a variable associated with either increased or decreased risk.-Correlation vs causation:...
s. The GBD is assessed using the GBD study by the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(WHO), and is an example of an evidence-based input to public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
policy debate. The aim of the study was to provide information and projections about disease burden on a global scale.
The GBD project was initiated in 1992 and is currently a collaborative effort between more than 800 experts worldwide, including researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health
Harvard School of Public Health
The Harvard School of Public Health is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Area of the Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Mission Hill, which is next to Harvard Medical School. HSPH is considered a significant school focusing on health in the...
, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation is a research institute working in the area of global health statistics and evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle. The Institute is headed by Dr. Christopher J.L...
(IHME), WHO and the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
. The original project estimated health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
gaps using disability-adjusted life years
Disability-adjusted life years
The disability-adjusted life year is a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death. Originally developed by Harvard University for the World Bank in 1990, the World Health Organization subsequently adopted the method in 2000...
(DALYs) for eight regions of the world in 1990. It provides a standardised approach to epidemiological assessment and uses a standard unit, the disability-adjusted life year (DALY), to aid comparisons.
The GBD has three specific aims:
- To systematically incorporate information on non-fatal outcomes into the assessment of health status (using a time-based measure of healthy years of life lost due either to premature mortality or to years lived with a disability, weighted by the severity of that disability)
- To ensure that all estimates and projections were derived on the basis of objective epidemiological and demographic methods, which were not influenced by advocates.
- To measure the burden of disease using a metric that could also be used to assess the cost-effectiveness of interventions. The metric chosen was the DALY.
The burden of disease can be viewed as the gap between current health status and an ideal situation in which everyone lives into old age free of disease and disability. Causes of the gap are premature mortality, disability and exposure to certain risk factors that contribute to illness.
The GBD is now in its fifth round. The work will quantify the burdens of more than 400 major causes of death and disability disaggregated by 21 geographic regions and various age-sex groups. Risk factors are evaluated and projections to are being made.