New WHO report highlights global loneliness epidemic
"In this age when possibilities to connect are endless, more and more people are finding themselves isolated and lonely," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, in a news release.
Between 2014-2023, around 16% of people worldwide -- one in six -- experienced loneliness. While loneliness impacts all ages and regions, young people are more vulnerable. Loneliness is more common in low and middle-income countries as 24% of people in these regions -- one in four -- report feeling lonely. Southeast Asia is ranked third (18%) after Africa (24%) and the Eastern Mediterranean (21%).
Data on social isolation is limited. Between 1990-2022, up to a quarter of older people were estimated to interacting less with others.
Marginalised groups, including LGBTI individuals and migrants, are more likely to experience loneliness and social isolation than others.
Multiple causes increase the risk of loneliness and social isolation, including poor health, living alone and lack of public infrastructure, as well as digital technology.
The report highlights the impact of loneliness and social isolation, with both associated with stroke, heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline and early death. Lonely people are twice as likely to experience depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Globally, between 2014 and 2019, loneliness was responsible for around 871,000 deaths each year.
The report outlines solutions to promote social connection. While campaigns and policies have potential to address the challenge, community strategies provide enormous opportunities for people to connect. For example, improving social infrastructure, such as libraries and parks, can be helpful. Public spaces can also be designed in a better way to bring people together.
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Bangkok Post
3 days ago
- Bangkok Post
New WHO report highlights global loneliness epidemic
A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that loneliness affects one in six people. In the report titled "From Loneliness To Social Connection", social isolation refers to the state of interacting less with others. Meanwhile, loneliness is a negative emotion that results from a gap between desired and actual relationships. "In this age when possibilities to connect are endless, more and more people are finding themselves isolated and lonely," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, in a news release. Between 2014-2023, around 16% of people worldwide -- one in six -- experienced loneliness. While loneliness impacts all ages and regions, young people are more vulnerable. Loneliness is more common in low and middle-income countries as 24% of people in these regions -- one in four -- report feeling lonely. Southeast Asia is ranked third (18%) after Africa (24%) and the Eastern Mediterranean (21%). Data on social isolation is limited. Between 1990-2022, up to a quarter of older people were estimated to interacting less with others. Marginalised groups, including LGBTI individuals and migrants, are more likely to experience loneliness and social isolation than others. Multiple causes increase the risk of loneliness and social isolation, including poor health, living alone and lack of public infrastructure, as well as digital technology. The report highlights the impact of loneliness and social isolation, with both associated with stroke, heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline and early death. Lonely people are twice as likely to experience depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Globally, between 2014 and 2019, loneliness was responsible for around 871,000 deaths each year. The report outlines solutions to promote social connection. While campaigns and policies have potential to address the challenge, community strategies provide enormous opportunities for people to connect. For example, improving social infrastructure, such as libraries and parks, can be helpful. Public spaces can also be designed in a better way to bring people together.
Bangkok Post
14-07-2025
- Bangkok Post
High rates hurt public healthcare
May's 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the annual meeting of the World Health Organization's member states -- ended on a self-congratulatory note. From an agreement on pandemic preparedness to increases in assessed contributions to the WHO, there were plenty of achievements to tout. But there was an elephant in the room, hiding behind a banner reading "One World for Health": the high borrowing costs faced by African countries. Despite being the world's youngest continent, Africa bears 24% of the global disease burden. Yet it accounts for less than 1% of global health spending. In 2001, African countries decided to take matters into their own hands, pledging to devote at least 15% of national budgets to health. Yet more than two decades later, only two countries have reached that target. On average, governments on the continent allocate a mere 1.48%of their GDP to health, while 37% of health spending comes directly out of citizens' pockets. Borrowing costs are a major reason why. Whereas high-income countries borrow at an interest rate of 2–3%, their African counterparts can face rates above 10%. This discrepancy -- which reflects investors' perception of heightened risk in African economies -- means that governments on the continent often must choose between making debt payments or buying medicines, hiring doctors and building health clinics. The cost of capital costs lives. Consider Kenya's ill-fated Managed Equipment Services (MES) programme, a public-private partnership aimed at enhancing service availability at hospitals through the provision of modern equipment. The programme did provide high-tech equipment to many hospitals. But, given the cost of capital for investment, Kenya could not deliver the infrastructure or personnel to use it. In Ghana, where debt-service costs have left little fiscal space, nearly 75% of the government's health budget now goes to health-care workers' wages, leaving little funding for other crucial expenses, from medicines to maternal-health programmes. In 2023, a shortage of antimalarial drugs forced some rural clinics to direct patients to purchase the medicine they needed directly from private pharmacies. Many families thus faced a harrowing choice between being driven further into poverty and sending a loved one to an early grave. For many African countries, high borrowing costs have contributed to dependence on the goodwill of foreign donors. But aid-dependent health-care systems are fundamentally fragile. We saw this during the Covid-19 pandemic, and we are seeing it now, as European countries scale back their development spending to free up space for other priorities, and the United States dismantles its entire aid apparatus, beginning with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). In Malawi, those cuts have already forced critical programmes, such as for HIV treatment and prevention, to scramble for funds. Local NGOs have been forced to lay off outreach workers, and patients with tuberculosis or HIV have gone without care. As one community health nurse in South Africa lamented, "My fear is mortality is going to be very high". Africans' health cannot depend on the generosity of others. Governments must be able to invest in stable, resilient, self-sustaining health systems. To raise funds, Senegal and Zambia are experimenting with "health taxes" on alcohol and sugary drinks. Debt-for-health swaps in countries like Seychelles have shown promise. Nigeria's diaspora health bonds could unlock billions in financing if they are matched with concessional capital and guarantees from multilateral banks. Ultimately, there is no substitute for affordable, predictable capital. That is why lowering borrowing costs must be a key priority at the G20 summit this November. This means, first, tackling structural factors such as outdated international regulations and biases in risk assessments. It also means delivering timely and meaningful debt relief. This will require innovative mechanisms, such as debt-for-health swaps, and increasing the use of pause clauses in existing loans and new debt contracts that allow for debt payment suspension when a pandemic strikes. A third priority must be to secure continued political support for multilateral health programmes -- such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria -- thereby ensuring continuity in the delivery of the relevant health services. Finally, the G20 must seek to expand African countries' access to concessional financing for health infrastructure through multilateral development banks. The G20 is the right forum for these actions. Its mandate includes addressing global challenges, promoting economic cooperation, and fostering global stability. The cost of capital is beyond any one country's capacity to address, and it is producing a destabilising global-health emergency. The upcoming G20 summit, the first to be held in Africa -- and the second with the African Union as a permanent member -- represents a particularly fitting moment for such action. Within African countries, mechanisms -- based on civil-society engagement -- for ensuring accountability for how funds are spent are also essential. But the first step must be to free up the funds. To achieve "One World for Health", all countries must be able to access the means to invest in health care. ©2025 Project Syndicate Serah Makka is Africa Executive Director at The ONE Campaign. Rosemary Mburu is Executive Director of WACI Health.
Bangkok Post
14-07-2025
- Bangkok Post
Pageant for progress
There is more to a gay pageant than crowning the good-looking, charismatic winner. Beneath the glamorous veneer lies an expectation that the candidate have goodwill and sacrifice himself for the community. And this is what the champion of Mr. Gay Universe Thailand 2025 should embody. After an audition in May, 24 contestants pitched social campaigns on a wide range of topics from safe space to sexual health for LGBTIs at University of Phayao's College of Management in Bangkok on July 5. The winner of the Best Pride Campaign will be announced on Saturday and then fast-tracked to the final round the same day. The national representative will compete on the global stage. Mr. Gay Universe is an international competition that aims to enhance the visibility of gay men, empowering them to be role models and change-makers in their communities. It is expected to take place in India in November. "Today's event allows contestants to promote human rights and gender equality," said Nikorn Chimkong, director of the Bangkok Rainbow Organisation, which has held the national gay pageant for seven years. Previously, it was named Mr. Gay World Thailand. "It gives an opportunity for contestants to show their creativity and public spirit," said Prof Seri Wongmontha, the chair of the committee for the Best Pride Campaign Award. "As Thailand now values gender diversity, everybody is part of driving change." Each contestant took the stage and answered the committee's questions. In a social campaign titled "Empower Of Uniblood", Panupong Pimprasit called for the Thai Red Cross Society to lift the ban on blood donation by LGBTIs due to the perceived stigma of risky sexual behaviour, which he attributed to the spread of HIV/Aids in 1985. "It should be noted that our blood supplies are running low. In addition, HIV can infect all, not just LGBTIs. Besides, the Food and Drug Administration has already revised guidelines on blood donation," he said. The FDA officially removed restrictions that had forbidden blood donations by gay and bisexual men -- a policy that critics say is discriminatory -- in 2023. Panupong proposed that screening should apply to all blood donors, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, or sex. He showed a current screening form, though already updated, that includes two biological sexes and a new transgender category. In practice, however, transgender people are still not allowed to donate blood. "Screening should be based on individual risks rather than LGBTI stigma," he said. Panupong's social campaign will gather a broad coalition of government bodies, the private sector and civil society. He will develop a knowledge-sharing platform, design strategies to tackle inequality and increase blood supplies. In a social campaign titled "My Little Pride Show", Surachai Saengsuwan has LGBTI artists mentor children with Down syndrome. For seven years, he has organised art camps to promote collaboration and showcase their works. Inspired by a student who wants to be a cabaret performer, he has continued with this year's campaign to improve the public perception of them as givers. A pilot group of 30 children with Down syndrome joined workshops in May and performed with different groups of the LGBTI community, including gay men, drags, transgender people and bears, in June. They are expected to perform with a group of molam singers later this year. "Nowadays, LGBTIs are not just survivors but givers. We have an opportunity to live a meaningful life," he said. Crowned with the "Drag Queen Iconic Buriram Award", Jakkaphan Phataraaksornsakul is working on a social campaign titled "Disability And Diversity My Power My Pride". Born with cleft lip and palate, Jakkaphan has been suffering from discrimination. He wants to mentor disabled people who are interested in drag performances. "There is no need to hide. Just show it," he added. In a project titled "Rainbow Wounds", Pand Chandrakaeo is raising awareness about the impact of violence on LGBTIs, including those with intersectional identities. As physical, sexual and verbal attacks hurt and leave wounds, he aims to empower victims by encouraging them to speak out on social media. Santi Kengsuwan is conducting a project titled "Notice The Red Flag" to address rising violence against LGBTIs. His online group allows users to ask for immediate help in the vicinity. They can also get news alerts, learn about different types of LGBTI violence and receive psychological support. "As the number of cases is on the rise, this lifeline will ensure safety for vulnerable groups, especially sex workers," he said. Meanwhile, Eakachai Sreprom is developing an all-in-one application called Gay Unicorn. It provides a community space for gay men to talk and learn about a wide range of topics from rights to sex health. For example, it gathers information about sexually transmitted diseases and chemsex, which is not available on the Internet. Volunteers are at hand to offer advice. Some contestants place emphasis on the promotion of gender diversity in an educational setting. Pattawee Tunprasert is planning a social campaign to create safe space in elementary school. As statistics show that LGBTI students are more stressed than non-LGBTI peers, Pattawee wants to equip teachers with more knowledge of gender diversity. In a social campaign titled "Hear And Heal", Supakij Phosida is pushing for reintegration of LGBTI ex-inmates into society. At a prison in Ayutthaya, there are around 60 LGBTIs out of 1,500 inmates (4%). Upon release, their jobs are limited to hairdressing or household chores. His project will provide more opportunities by training well-behaved ex-prisoners and matching them with local factories under an MoU. "One of them is going to set a quota for LGBTIs. I will bring more on board. A small step is already a success," he added.
