Report on the World
The World Health Report 1998, from the World Health Organization, reveals facts and makes predictions about several areas, including the health of adults and children:
* In developed countries, noncommunicable diseases will remain dominant. Heart disease and stroke have declined as causes of death in recent decades, while death rates from some cancers have risen.
* About 1.8 million adults died of AIDS in 1997, and the annual death toll is likely to continue to rise for some years.
* Diabetes cases in adults will more than double globally from 143 million in 1997 to 300 million by 2025, largely because of dietary and other lifestyle factors.
* In general, more than 15 million adults, ages 20-64, are dying every year. Most of these deaths are premature and preventable.
* Spectacular progress in reducing the mortality rate in children younger than 5 is projected to continue. There were about 10 million such deaths in 1997, compared with 21 million in 1955.
* About 50% of deaths of children younger than 5 are associated with malnutrition.
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