Keynote 1: A fact-based view on global health and infectious diseases

Linked to EAHP Statements

Section 1 – Introductory Statements and Governance: Statements 1.1, 1.5
Section 2 – Selection, Procurement and Distribution: Statement 2.3
Section 4 – Clinical Pharmacy Services: Statements 4.1, 4.2
Section 5 – Patient Safety and Quality Assurance: Statements 5.1, 5.6

ACPE UAN: 0475-0000-18-001-L04-P. A knowledge based activity.

Abstract

50 years ago the world had – “developed” and “developing” countries. One type was rich with small families and the other poor with large families. One had long lifespan, the other short. One suffered from malnutrition, infections and maternal disorders, the other from non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Now we live in a world with a continuous variation of socioeconomic levels, demographic realities and disease panorama. Unprecedented improvements have been made in all areas, and many challenges still remain. But most people have severe misconceptions about contemporary global development and people intuitively believe that most things are getting worse. One of the main reasons for this is that students don’t learn to understand the world based on statistics and facts. Instead, we have a dramatic worldview formed by outdated school books and sensationalist news-stories. For example; diseases that have received a significant amount of media attention in recent years such as Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever or West Nile Virus, have only infected a relatively small number of people while approximately half of all deaths caused by infectious diseases each year can be attributed to just three diseases: tuberculosis, malaria, and AIDS.

Gapminder is an independent Swedish foundation with no political, religious or economic affiliations that promotes a new way of thinking about the world and the society which they call Factfulness. In this keynote, Dr. Helena Nordenstedt, lecturer for Gapminder and medical doctor with experience in working for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), will demonstrate global health trends and demographic forecasts through animated graphics, presenting the continuous variation of socioeconomics levels and demographic realities that we now live in.

Learning objectives

After the session, the participant should be able to:
• Describe demographic trends in the world until the year 2100 and underlying reasons;
• Understand the ongoing global disease panorama shift.

Educational need addressed

As healthcare providers, hospital pharmacists need to have an accurate and fact based knowledge of global development in general and the global disease panorama shift in special. This session will present demographic forecasts based on statistics and facts, to counter balance sensationalism in the media.

Keywords: global health, demography, infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases