The quality of life in various regions of the world can drastically differ, creating significant discrepancies and altering the possibilities of encountering illness. Such instances as stroke, Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are common causes of increased disability-adjusted life years (DALY) in individuals throughout the globe (Li, 2018). This work discusses DALY as an excellent measure of global health, analyzing India and the United States and proposing that social attitudes and medical care availability serve as the primary causes of DALY differences.
India and the US are two considerably contrasting nations, possessing distinct cultural characteristics and quality of life standards. The two countries represent separate economic regions, with India representing the Asian sector and the United States a part of the North American sector. In this regard, the DALY elements vary significantly between these nations. India possesses a unique ratio of communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNN), non-communicable disorders, and injuries (IHME, n.d.). The prevalence of non-communicable illnesses underlines a significant tendency towards IHD, stroke, and diabetes. A smaller percentage of ailments contributes to CMNN, with neonatal complications and lower respiratory infections remaining the major health issues. Road injuries, falls, and self-harm are less common among the Indian population.
In comparison, the USA demonstrates a different pattern of DALYs. Non-communicable ailments occupy the largest part of DALY causes in the US (IHME, n.d.). Such conditions as IHD, lung cancer, and stroke appear to be the most common non-communicable illnesses, while neonatal complications, lower respiratory infections, and HIV, all classified as CMNN, are often present in the population. Nevertheless, road injuries, falls, and self-harm constitute a corresponding percentage compared to India. Therefore, the main contrasts are evident in the ratio of non-communicable and infectious diseases, a greater variety of non-communicable illnesses in the US, and a considerable impact of drugs on the lives of American citizens.
It is possible that the social and environmental characteristics of the countries discussed play a substantial role in the occurrence of outlined discrepancies. The prevalence of non-communicable diseases in the United States might be influenced by the density of the Indian population and the impact of hospital care and technological advancements. As India’s social demographic index is considerably lower than America’s, 0.5 and 0.8, respectively, the lack of medical organizations and diminished sanitary norms may contribute to the rise of CMNN (IHME, n.d.). Moreover, a tremendous variety of non-communicable disorders in the US may be explained by several social attributes, namely the absence of necessary physical activity, the promotion of fast food, and unhealthy dieting (Menon et al., 2019). In comparison, physical exercise, healthy eating, and alcohol withdrawal are often prevalent among Indians.
Finally, another socio-demographic cause of DALY differences might lie in the impact of drugs on the lives of American citizens. The risk of participating in substance abusive behavior is significantly high in America, while, in India, this level is quite low (Kadri et al., 2019). Thus, the differences between the social environment and the economy of the two nations can prompt the occurrence of several DALY discrepancies, shaping the problematic health areas of the two populations.
DALY appears to be an excellent measure for the global health of the nation, as it combines multiple features that are necessary for creating a coherent overview. Disease and mortality rates might not display a full overview of the health issues that severely impact the population’s well-being (Li, 2018). However, DALY allows establishing how numerous disorders contribute to the loss of healthy years, either due to death or disability. Possessing a permanent ailment can be properly ascertained with the help of DALY and compared to other disorders with different influences on the standards of living. In this regard, the Communicable, Non-communicable, and Injury categories can be beneficial for evaluating the population’s morbidity rates, the transmission of particular illnesses, and their impact on mortality (Li, 2018). With DALY, it becomes possible to examine the outlined concepts not only separately but also to assess how morbidity and illness contraction can affect mortality rates within a specific community.
References
IHME Viz Hub. (n.d.). GBD Compare.
Kadri, A. N., Wilner, B., Hernandez, A. V., Nakhoul, G., Chahine, J., Griffin, B., Pettersson, G., Grimm, R., Navia, J., Gordon, S., Kapadia, S. R., & Harb, S. C. (2019). Geographic trends, patient characteristics, and outcomes of infective endocarditis associated with drug abuse in the United States from 2002 to 2016.Journal of the American Heart Association, 8(19).
Li, Z. (2018). The use of a disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) metric to measure human health damage resulting from pesticide maximum legal exposures. Science of The Total Environment, 639, 438–456.
Menon, G. R., Singh, L., Sharma, P., Yadav, P., Sharma, S., Kalaskar, S., Singh, H., Adinarayanan, S., Joshua, V., Kulothungan, V., Yadav, J., Watson, L. K., Fadel, S. A., Suraweera, W., Rao, M. V. V., Dhaliwal, R. S., Begum, R., Sati, P., Jamison, D. T., & Jha, P. (2019). National Burden Estimates of healthy life lost in India, 2017: An analysis using direct mortality data and indirect disability data.The Lancet Global Health, 7(12), 1675–1684.