In 2024, the health sector worldwide, has been faced with many aspects of success and challenges. Despite the advancement in technology in the medical field, and various approaches to combat various illnesses, there is a continued rise in emerging disease and chronic diseases worldwide. This article explores the rampant diseases of 2024, backed up by key statistics and trends of global health.

2024’s Global Health Trend
Emerging diseases and challenges of long-standing health conditions defined health in 2024. The spread of disease is greatly influenced by a lot of factors such as; constant change in climate, urbanization of areas, and increased mobility of people all over and around the world.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) so far has remained a constant health burden globally, and this accounts for nearly 70% of global deaths. However, communicable diseases have also surfaced and this has been found to be partly due to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that rocked the whole world. Malnutrition, obesity and undernutrition, persisted as a pressing issue, affecting over one billion individuals worldwide.

Prevalent Diseases and Their Statistics

1.Respiratory Infections
Respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza has continued to pose threats worldwide. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, vaccination efforts to combat this viral disease has been great, but it is ranked among the top three global causes of death from 2020 through 2023, causing the death of millions of people annually. Although, seasonal influenza, managed through vaccines, has caused recurring outbreaks, especially in vulnerable populations. These diseases raised the need for implemented public health measures and the availability and acessability to vaccines.

2.Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)
NCDs are also referred to as Chronic diseases and examples of such are cardiovascular diseases(e.g stroke, heart attack), diabetes, and cancer. These diseases were the leading causes of mortality in 2024. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), NCDs mostly affect people in low and middle income countries, where more than three quarters of global NCD deaths (31.4 million) occur. Cardiovascular diseases alone accounted for approximately 18 million deaths globally, reaffirming their status as the world’s largest killer. Diabetes has also become very rampant; WHO recorded that about 830 million people worldwide have diabetes, and this condition is exacerbated by lifestyle factors and increasing obesity rates. Also, Cancer, a chronic debilitating disease affects about 1 in 5 people, and approximately 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women die from the disease. A report from the American Cancer Society (ACS), estimated that 20 million cancer cases were newly diagnosed in 2022 and 9.7 million people died from the disease worldwide and by 2050, the number of cancer cases is predicted to reach about 35 million.

3.Vector-Borne Diseases
Vector borne diseases are diseases that are transmitted by vectors such as insects. According to the WHO, they cause more than 17% of all infectious diseases, and more than 700 000 deaths yearly . Malaria and dengue fever are prevalent disease in 2024. These are common mostly in the tropical and subtropical regions. The WHO estimated over 240 million malaria cases in 2024, with Africa having the highest record. Dengue outbreak has increased in South-East Asia and Latin America whereas the WHO recorded that in 132 countries, more than 3.9 billion people are at risk of contracting dengue, with 40 000 deaths to be estimated every year.

4. Mental Health Disorders
The rate of mental health issues worldwide is increasing and has become a condition that has gained great attention as cases of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders surface. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that 57.8 million adults live with some form of mental illness.The COVID-19 pandemic aggravated the mental health crisis, particularly among younger populations. Also, suicide rates, a key indicator of mental health, increased greatly in several regions, resulting in calls for increased provision of mental health services.

Regional Analysis
Different regions across the world were faced with a unique health challenge(s) in 2024. For instance, Sub-Saharan Africa continued the battle against infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, with the limiation of access to proper healthcare that compounds the problem. Meanwhile, South-East Asia experienced double health challenge of NCDs and vector-borne diseases.

Conclusion
The diseases that dominated the year, 2024 shows the relationship of global health challenges. Disease conditions spanning from respiratory infections to chronic diseases and mental health issues, shows that they have to be addressed and tackled and this can be achieved through a unified global response. As we approach 2025, access to proper healthcare, healthcare equity, healthcare innovation, and sustainability should be greatly prioritized by each country and the world at large because, this is very important in achieving and improving good health outcomes for all people.