Global burden of mental health

Another news article worth reading:

Collins et al. Grand challenges in global mental health. Nature. 2011 Jul 6;475(7354):27-30.

Despite it rarity in developing countries MS punches above its weight and makes it onto the list in 14th position globally with a disability-adjusted life year (DALY) score of 1.5 million units per year.

A disability-adjusted life year (DALY) is a unit health economists use for measuring the amount of health lost because of a disease or injury. It is calculated as the present value of the future years of disability-free life that are lost as a result of the premature deaths or disability occurring in a particular year.



"1.5 million lost DALYs seems like a lot when you compare MS to the more common diseases above it on the table."


"I suppose we don't need any more reminders of how disabling MS can be, but this article puts MS into  perspective at a global level."


"Apologies, about springing difficult concepts like DALYs on you; but I believe it is information that is important to MS'ers and their families."


Extra reading: DALY