The world has faced significant challenges in the last three years, including reversals in global health cooperation and sharp increases in violent conflict, a recent report by World Economic Forum (WEF) has found. Overall, global cooperation has started to decline since 2020, it found.
The report, The Global Cooperation Barometer 2024, was released on January 8, 2024 ahead of the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland from January 15 to January 19, 2024.
The barometer, developed in collaboration with management consultants McKinsey & Company, used 42 indicators to measure five pillars of global cooperation between 2012 and 2022. The five pillars are trade and capital; innovation and technology; climate and natural capital; health and wellness; and peace and security.
The health and wellness pillar examined the impact of global cooperation on enabling people worldwide to lead longer and healthier lives.
The emphasis was on understanding the burden of disease on life expectancy and quality of life, as well as growing commitments to global public health standards and collaboration through goods flows, research and development (R&D) / intellectual property (IP) and health financing.
Source: McKinsey & Company
Prior to 2020, most indicators of health cooperation, such as health development assistance, trade in health goods and health-related R&D and IP flows, grew slowly and steadily, the report found.
Health outcomes like life expectancy, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), maternal and child mortality improved from 2012 through 2019, due in part to an increase in healthcare development aid and global efforts to address preventable and controllable diseases, the WEF further found.
International scientists made the COVID-19 genome freely available, accelerating vaccine development and health-related aid flowed to emerging economies. International agencies, such as GAVI the Vaccine Alliance, also played a pivotal role in providing basic lifesaving vaccines, the report added.
As the immediate impact of COVID-19 subsides, global health cooperation appears to be decreasing but remains above 2019 levels for certain metrics. For example, reductions in child mortality continue the report added.
But other metrics present a more mixed picture — overall life expectancy and DALYs suffered due to COVID-19-related deaths and the diversion of resources from other health priorities. Life expectancy at birth declined to 71 in 2021 from 72.8 in 2019.
An estimated 241 million malaria cases and 627,000 deaths from malaria were reported worldwide in 2020. This means that 14 million more people contracted malaria and 69,000 more people died from it than in 2019.
Maternal mortality rates increased for the first time in three decades. In 2020, the global maternal mortality ratio was 152 deaths per 100,000 live births, up from 151 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019. Of the estimated 287,000 maternal deaths recorded in 2020, 70 per cent (202,000) took place in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a report by the United Nations.
Redoubling efforts on chronic health and wellness challenges
Beyond pandemic efforts, there are four broader areas where redoubling cooperation will be essential, the report said. These are significant in view of the new omnicron subvariant JN.1, which may soon become the dominant lineage of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide
International partnerships will play an integral role in coordinating and deepening basic research on a variety of health conditions, ranging from chronic disease to accelerating approaches to clinical trials on frontier conditions.
The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases brought together major international research funding agencies specifically to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries and vulnerable populations in high-income countries.
Sustained cooperation is needed to tackle the continued proliferation of synthetic drugs globally. Illicitly-manufactured synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, tramadol, methamphetamine, captagon, and ketamine threaten the health, security and wellbeing of people around the world.
There is significant potential to coordinate emerging best practices to support improved outcomes in mental health in the working age population. Finally, coordinated approaches are needed to engage and increase participation of ageing populations.
The report is designed to help leaders better understand the nature of cooperation to shape a healthier, more prosperous and sustainable world.
“That cooperation and confrontation can coexist should not come as a surprise. History is replete with parties at odds with one another, but still seeking opportunities for collaboration,” said Borge Brende, WEF president and McKinsey & Company’s Managing Partner Bob Sternfels.
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