Top ten public health challenges to track in 2022
Don Eliseo Lucero‐Prisno, M. B. N. Kouwenhoven, Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi, Adriana Viola Miranda, Dawa Gyeltshen, Mohamed Hoosen Suleman, Isabel Kazanga Chiumia, Mat Lowe, Thinley Dorji, Junjie Huang, Angelica Joyce Gacutno‐Evardone, Xü Lin, Kenesh Dzhusupov, Kristine Joy Abordo Gacutno, Shyam Sundar Budhathoki, Olaf Chresten Jensen, Kwanjai Amnatsatsue, Abraham Fessehaye Sium, Takaaki Ikeda, Martin C. S. Wong
Abstract
We identify ten public health challenges that need to be closely tracked in 2022. These challenges are COVID-19, inadequate human resources for health, poor health systems financing, conflict and humanitarian crises, mental health, poverty, climate change, the health of children, reproductive health issues, and the infodemic. These global priorities, based on opinion of experts and current evidence and literature, need immediate attention and scaled-up actions. This list of priorities does not discount the existence of other major public health challenges. We forecast and highlight those that may impact global public health in 2022 in order to progress and to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Thus, we advocate for stronger international cooperation, solidarity, and sustainable funding to address these challenges, and improve health across and within populations globally.