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Modern medicines of the world

Picture 28. Life expectancy has increased steadily in the UK over the last 100 years. Countries in the developing world have not seen similar rises.

Modern medicines and treatments have contributed to an increase in the number of years that people can expect to remain healthy. At the start of the last century, in the United Kingdom, a person would expect to live to an average of about 44 years of age. By the year 2000, this had increased to around 77 years.

Health worldwide
	The health of a person depends on many things. Their genetic make-up, diet, living conditions and access to healthcare all contribute to the well-being of an individual. Roll over the countries in the map below to see some health statistics for a sample of developed and developing countries.

Picture 29. Roll over the countries to see their statistics.

Picture 30. WHO headquarters Geneva, Switzerland.
Courtesy: WHO/P. Virot©

	"Health is as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease."

World Health Organisation (WHO)
	The WHO is part of the United Nations and is based in Geneva, with regional operations throughout the world. It has many functions that include monitoring diseases throughout the world and their experts give advice on how to limit these outbreaks. During the recent SARS outbreak, the WHO was responsible for publishing advice on the safety of travelling to infected areas. The WHO also gathers a tremendous amount of information and produces statistics on global health. This helps to direct medical research and also influence governments when developing health-related policies.

Health Protection Agency (HPA)

In the United kingdom, the HPA co-ordinates activities to reduce the threat of disease. It has a wide range of responsibilities which include supporting the National Health Service to protect people from the spread of infection and responding to the release of biological or chemical poisons. A network of microbiology laboratories across the country can identify dangerous pathogens and advise on the actions that need to be taken to prevent serious diseases from becoming epidemics.

Nearly 3,000 people work for the HPA in a range of careers that include: infectious disease control, public health specialists, emergency planning and information technology.

Picture 31. Scientists in CDC laboratories often handle highly dangerous pathogens.
Courtesy: CDC, USA.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

In the United States, infectious diseases are monitored by the CDC which is based in Atlanta. It is responsible for a range of activities including education, health promotion and disease prevention.

The CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service tracks outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as the deadly ebola virus, wherever they happen in the world. Known as disease detectives, they investigate a variety of outbreaks from identifying new emerging viruses to tracing the cause of local food poisoning cases.

Question 10

Use the information to answer these questions.

Think about how your health would be affected depending on which country in the world you lived in. How would you get treatment for common problems like a chest infection? What would happen if you needed treatment for something more serious like meningitis?

	USA	Brazil	UK	Zimbabwe	Afghanistan	Cambodia	Australia
Which country spends the most on health each year?
Which country has the highest life expectancy?
Which country has the lowest number of doctors for the size of its population?
Which country spends less than the cost of a DVD on health per person each year?
Which country has the highest number of infant deaths below the age of five?

Country	United Kingdom
Population	59.5 million
Life expectancy	77.5 years
Children under 5 years old dying per 1000	6.5
Annual medical spend per person	£2,661.00
Doctors in the country per 100,000 people	164

Country	USA
Population	285.9 million
Life expectancy	76.9 years
Children under 5 years old dying per 1000	8
Annual medical spend per person	£6,748.50
Doctors in the country per 100,000 people	279

Country	Brazil
Population	172.5 million
Life expectancy	68.8 years
Children under 5 years old dying per 1000	43.5
Annual medical spend per person	£946.50
Doctors in the country per 100,000 people	127

Country	Zimbabwe
Population	12.8 million
Life expectancy	36.8 years
Children under 5 years old dying per 1000	129
Annual medical spend per person	£256.50
Doctors in the country per 100,000 people	13.9

Country	Australia
Population	19.3 million
Life expectancy	79.8 years
Children under 5 years old dying per 1000	6
Annual medical spend per person	£3,332.00
Doctors in the country per 100,000 people	240

Country	Afghanistan
Population	22.4 million
Life expectancy	42.2 years
Children under 5 years old dying per 1000	249
Annual medical spend per person	£13.50
Doctors in the country per 100,000 people	11

Country	Cambodia
Population	13.4 million
Life expectancy	56.2 years
Children under 5 years old dying per 1000	122
Annual medical spend per person	£166.50
Doctors in the country per 100,000 people	29.7