Ten Global Public Health Achievements

In its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC describes "global public health achievements that occurred outside of the United States during 2001-2010." Gains in public health efforts, such as preventing child mortality, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases, have improved longevity and "resulted from improved living conditions overall, advances in medical science, and a number of population-level interventions. However, major disparities persist. During the past decade, in low-income countries, average life expectancy at birth increased from 55 to 57 years (3.6%), while increasing from 78 to 80 years (2.6%) in high-income countries," the article notes (6/24).