
“Cardiovascular disease mortality has fallen massively since the 1950s,” reports Our World in Data:
The decline is substantial. In the United States, the death rate dropped from over 500 per 100,000 people in 1950 to under 150 in 2021 — a four-fold decline. The reduction in France and the United Kingdom was even greater, with death rates falling five-fold.
This progress comes from advancements in medical science, surgeries, emergency care, public health efforts, and dietary changes, improving cardiovascular health.
A dramatic reduction in smoking rates, better screening and monitoring for conditions like high blood pressure, and the development of life-saving treatments such as stents, statins, and clot-busting drugs have all contributed.
Death rates have also fallen four-fold in Italy.
In Cambodia, child deaths have fallen about 90% since 2000, as water has gotten cleaner, reducing deaths from diarrhea, which are the leading cause of death among children in Cambodia.
Nine nations eradicated a devastating disease in 2024. “Cape Verde and Egypt became malaria-free. Brazil and Timor Leste eliminated lymphatic filariasis, the disfiguring parasite that causes a condition commonly known as elephantiasis. Jordan became the first country to ever be certified as leprosy-free. Chad got rid of one form of human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness. And Pakistan, Vietnam and India eliminated trachoma, which causes blindness,” reports NPR.
Last year, trachoma was almost eradicated from Zimbabwe, where it has been banished from all but three remote districts. In 2023, trachoma was eliminated from Iraq. Ethiopia, Somalia, and Niger have the highest rates of trachoma — in 2021, Ethiopia alone had over a million people with the disease.