Titbits on Global Health Care 2017

Global health care expenditures are projected to reach $8.7 trillion by 2020 driven by improving treatments in therapeutic areas (TA) coupled with rising labor costs and increased life expectancy.

• Communicable diseases are an ongoing threat. HIV-AIDS continues to affect 36.9 million people worldwide, with around 70% of them living in Sub-Sahara Africa.
• The Zika virus and associated upsurge in microcephaly are major threats in Latin America.
• China and India have the largest number of diabetes sufferers in the world, at around 110 million and 69 million, respectively. Globally, the number is expected to rise from the current 415 million to 642 million by 2040. 
• Life expectancy is projected to increase by one year by 2020, which will increase the aging population (over 65 years old) by 8%, from 559 million 4 in 2015 to 604 million 5 in 2020.
• From 2016 to 2050 the prevalence of dementia is forecast to increase in every region of the world. In 2015, 46.8 million people worldwide are estimated to be living with dementia. This number is anticipated to double every 20 years, reaching 74.7 million in 2030 and 131.5 million in 2050.
• Health care spending as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) should also rise slightly, from an estimated 10.4 % in 2016 to 10.5 % in 2020.
• Government health care expenditures as a percentage of GDP are projected to rise more quickly in low-income countries than other income groups.
• Chronic diseases are on the rise, assisted by rapid urbanization, sedentary lifestyles, changing diets, and rising obesity levels.
•  By 2020, 50% of global health care expenditures—about $4 trillion—will be spent on three leading causes of death: cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and respiratory diseases.