Accidents
are the top killer among both 15-19 year-olds and 20-24 year-olds, followed by
suicide and violence.
PARIS —
Decades of neglect and underinvestment have damaged the health of 10-to-24-year
olds worldwide and could hold back future generations, according to a major
report published on Tuesday.
Even as
global efforts have significantly improved the wellbeing of children aged five
and under, adolescents -- defined in the study as people aged between 10 and 24
-- have fared less well.
Mortality
rates in this age group -- numbering 1.8 billion, one in four people on the
planet -- have declined more slowly, and the leading causes of death, including
traffic accidents, suicide, violence, tuberculosis and drowning, have remained
stubbornly persistent.
Nor has
there been much change in the top risk factors for death, including
disease-ridden drinking water and inadequate sanitation.
The
fastest-growing health risk from 1990 to 2013, the period covered by the study
published in medical journal The Lancet, is unsafe sex.
Nine out
of ten adolescents live in developing countries, where these dangers loom
larger.
"Two-thirds
of young people are growing up in countries where preventable and treatable
health problems like HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy, depression, injury and violence
remain a daily threat," concluded the report.
Alcohol
tops the list of risk factors for 20-24 year olds -- accounting for an
estimated seven percent of health costs worldwide for the age group -- followed
by drug use.
Untapped resource
The
report, led by a consortium of four major research centres, said the findings
-- the first of their kind -- should be a wake-call to governments and
policy-makers.
Led by
George Patton of the University of Melbourne, the authors call for massive
investment they say will yield triple benefits: for young people today, for
their later years as adults, and for their children.
"This
generation of young people can transform all our futures," Patton said in
a statement. "There is no more pressing task in global health than
ensuring they have the resources to do so."
Investment
should target not just health directly, but also education, Patton’s commission
concluded.
Adolescence
is a critical time of growth, both biologically and socially.
"Puberty
triggers a cascading process of brain development and emotional change that
continues through the mid-20s," Patton explained.
"It
profoundly shapes health and wellbeing across the life-course."
In a
companion study, also in The Lancet, researchers at the Institute for Health
Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington provide detailed metrics
on what afflicts and kills young people today.
HIV/AIDS,
road accidents and drowning cause a quarter of all deaths in 10-14 year olds,
they found, with intestinal diseases, respiratory infections and malaria
accounting for another 21 per cent.
Accidents
are also the top killer among both 15-19 year-olds and 20-24 year-olds,
followed by suicide and violence.
Tackling
these problems "will bring huge social and economic benefits," said
Ali Mokdad, lead author of the statistical study.
In a
comment on the report, also in The Lancet, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
described young people as "the world’s greatest untapped resource".
Improving
their health is crucial to fulfilling the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,
long-term targets adopted the world’s nations last year to end poverty, promote
health and protect the environment, he said.
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