Project Overview
The new Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) study, commencing in Fall 2007, represents the first major effort at a systematic revision of estimates in health for every region in the world. Updating and improving on the paradigm established by the original 1996 study, this major revision unites a community of epidemiological experts and leaders in public health research from around the globe to assess trends in the state of all major diseases, injuries, and risk factors. The original project created a common metric to estimate morbidity and mortality for regions that collectively span the world's population, generating comparable information on incidence and prevalence in global health. This ambitious new effort will provide updated information on past, present, and forecasted levels of disease and injury, while raising awareness and understanding of the causal factors behind them. In a uniquely inclusive enterprise, the project's global community of participants will work together to produce new sets of estimates, powerful and easy-to-use tools for research and teaching, and comprehensive analyses. To further expand engagement with the GBD, the process of the new study will be fully transparent, with both methods and results publicly accessible. As a whole, the study stands to significantly revise our comprehension of global health, while providing information in a way that is maximally useful for funders and policy-makers.
Why update GBD estimates?
The Global Burden of Disease study is an evidence-based and scientific pursuit. While various groups have published partial updates of GBD rankings, there has not yet been a comprehensive and systematic revision. As a result, burden estimates today contain some outdated, and often, inconsistent information. Furthermore, patterns of disease and disability and their risk factors have altered dramatically and need to be reassessed in a newly comprehensive study.
Today, there is great demand for global burden estimates. Research and advocacy groups have brought new conditions to the awareness of the public health community. The Global Burden of Disease will be able to study the magnitude of these conditions compared to other causes of health burden. Also, researchers have significantly improved methods for burden assessment since the original GBD. These new tools can markedly enhance the validity of estimations, particularly for ranking risk factors and disabilities. More and more researchers, especially in the developing world, are engaged in burden work than ever before. A new structured study will take advantage of the opportunity to bring these global researchers together to communicate and work collaboratively in an environment that is strongly seeking new burden statistics. Moreover, the unprecedented money and attention now pouring into international health has made the need for an accurate assessment of global health patterns a matter of utmost urgency. A thorough GBD reassessment will ensure that the global health community bases its research and policies on complete, valid, and reliable information.