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What is Global Health?
Global Health is a "collection of problems having to do with the health in all parts of the world". It is based on public health, taking a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding global forces and population-level interventions (Brown and Closser, 2019). Diseases do not respect geographical boundaries so all countries should be concerned about their emergence. Therefore, global health requires the collaboration of researchers, practioners, and community members from around the world to solve these health issues (Brown and Closser, 2019).
Important Global Health Definitions
Life Expectancy: An estimate of the average number of additional years that a person of a given age can expect to live (Bezy, 2024).
Prevalence and Incidence
Prevalence: The proportion of persons in a population who have a particular disease or attribute at a at a specified point in time (Brown and Closser, 2019).
Incidence: The occurrence of new cases of disease or injury in a population over a specified period of time (Brown and Closser, 2019).
Mortality Rate: A measure of the frequency of occurence of death in a defined population during a specified interval (Brown and Closser, 2019).
Infant Mortality Rate: Number of deaths among children <1 year of age during a given time interval (Brown and Closser, 2019).
DALYs and YLLs
Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs): The years of healthy life lost due to a given health issue, considering both years of life lost due to death and the burden of living with a disability (Brown and Closser, 2019).
Years of Life Lost (YLLs): The number of years of life lost due to a given health issue (Brown and Closser, 2019).
Maternal Mortality Ratio: The number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (Maternal Mortality Rates and Statistics, 2025).
Health in Peru
Figure 1. The average life expectancy of males and females in Peru.
Average Life Expectancy
In 2021, the average life expectancy of females in Peru was 74.8 years and the average life expectancy of males was 68.8 years. The average total was 71.7 years in 2021 (Peru, 2021).
In Peru, life expectancy at birth (years) has worsened by 2.76 years from 74.4 years in 2000 to 71.7 years in 2021 (Peru, 2021).
Top 10 Causes of Death in 2021
COVID-19
Ischaemic Heart Disease
Lower Respiratory Infections
Stroke
Cirrhosis of the Liver
Kidney Diseases
Road Injury
Tuberculosis
Prostate Cancer
Stomach Cancer
(Global Health Estimates, 2021)
Top Risk Factors in 2021
Figure 2. The disease burden by risk factor in Peru in 2021.
Obesity
High Blood Sugar
Air Pollution (indoor and outdoor)
High Blood pressure
Outdoor Particulate Matter
Smoking
(Disease Burden by Risk Factor, 2021)
Top 5-10 Causes of Disability Adjusted Life Years in 2021
COVID-19
Lower Respiratory Infections
Ischemic Heart Disease
Back and Neck Pain
Anxiety Disorders
Stroke
Diabetes Mellitus
Road Injury
Kidney Diseases
Skin Diseases
(Global Health Estimates, 2021)
Figure 3. The infant mortality rate in Peru from 1996 to 2022.
Infant Mortality Rate
The infant mortality rate in Peru in 2022 was 17.0. Between 2002 and 2022, the infant mortality rate increased from 16 to 17 per 1000 live births (Paho/Ops, 2022).
Top Causes of Years of Life Lost in 2022
Ischemic Heart Disease
Lower Respiratory Infections
Stroke
Road Injuries
Chromic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
(Peru, 2022)
Maternal Mortality Ratio
The estimated maternal mortality ratio in Peru was 68.5 in 2020. This represents a 39.5% reduction compared to the estimated value in 2000 (Paho/Ops, 2022).
Figure 4. The estimated maternal mortality in Peru from 2000-2020.
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