Writing in the New York Times just before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, Jeneen Interlandi reminded Americans that many of the health “crises” we are accustomed to hearing about and worrying over are not as terrible as they are often made out to seem. In fact, she argued, the misperception of health risks can itself contribute to a downturn in both mental and physical health.
To be sure, there remain many global health issues. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists considers pandemics to be one of the four critical threats to humankind’s future survival, alongside nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence and climate change. And bacterial resistance to antibiotics was among the problems that topped the United Nations’ agenda this fall.
But global public health measured in life expectancy has never been higher, and it is expected to increase over the next five years despite geopolitical and environmental risks. This is because of international cooperation to improve health and eradicate deadly diseases, which has been one of the greatest achievements of global governance in the past century.