A wide variety of transmissible diseases are passed from one person to another within countries and around the world, but which of these contagious diseases is the biggest health burden in each country? Using burden of disease estimates from the World Heath Organization's (WHO) Global Health Estimates (GHE), we analyzed 40 different communicable diseases to see which types of disease caused the highest loss of daily adjusted life years (DALYs) in each of the countries around the world. DALYs are a common health metric because they combine the burden of mortality and morbidity to determine the sum of years of healthy life that are lost due to the disease in a country’s population.

The NYRequirements.com team analyzed a wide variety of infectious, parasitic, and respiratory diseases, including HIV/AIDS, STDs, childhood-cluster diseases, hepatitis, intestinal nematode infections, as well as diseases like malaria, dengue, and yellow fever. The respiratory diseases were divided into lower respiratory infections, such as pneumonia or bronchitis, and upper respiratory infections, which can include the common cold, sinusitis, or pharyngitis. Out of the 40 communicable diseases included in our study, only six were found to be the biggest health burden throughout our list of countries: lower respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases, malaria, and measles. Lower respiratory infections were found to be the biggest health burden in a majority of countries. Explore our map to see which countries are the most affected by these six common types of transmissible diseases.

Which Transmissible Disease Is the Biggest Health Burden on the World?

Lower respiratory diseases are the biggest health burden on the world, and out of the many communicable diseases analyzed, they were found to have the highest number of DALYs lost in 131 countries around the world. Nigeria is is the most affected by lower respiratory illnesses, with 16,230 daily adjusted life years lost to these respiratory diseases. The total number of DALYs lost worldwide due to lower respiratory illnesses is 104,622 years of healthy life.

The next most burdensome transmissible disease was found to be HIV/AIDS, which is the biggest health burden in 28 different countries. In total, HIV and AIDS have cost the world’s population more than 40,000 years of healthy life.

Transmissible Diseases That Are the Biggest Health Burdens Around the World

Lower Respiratory Infections are the biggest health burden in 131 countries. HIV/AIDS is the biggest health burden in 28 countries. Tuberculosis is the biggest health burden in ten countries. Diarrheal diseases are the biggest health burden in five countries. Malaria is the biggest health burden in four countries. Measles is the biggest health burden in two countries.

How Is the Health Burden of a Disease Measured?

The global burden of disease is calculated using disability adjusted life years (DALY), a commonly used universal health metric that combines mortality and morbidity to determine the number of years of healthy life each population is losing. It includes the potential years of life lost due to early death as well as the years of healthy life that are lost due to being in a state of poor health or disability from the disease. One DALY equals one year of full health per 100,000 people. Comparing the DALYs lost to different common diseases shows which health problems cause the most suffering in each country’s population and is also a helpful metric to use as a way to compare the overall health of countries around the world.

The Countries With the Most DALYs Lost to a Transmissible Disease

Rank Country Transmissible Disease DALYs Lost 1 India Tuberculosis 24,836.1 2 Nigeria Lower Respiratory Infections 16,230.4 3 Pakistan Lower Respiratory Infections 5,861.8 4 Indonesia Tuberculosis 4,985.2 5 South Africa HIV/AIDS 4,637.9 6 Democratic Republic of the Congo Lower Respiratory Infections 4,586.6 7 China Lower Respiratory Infections 4,209.4 8 Ethiopia Lower Respiratory Infections 3,267.5 9 Mozambique HIV/AIDS 3,163.5 10 Philippines Lower Respiratory Infections 2,166.6 11 Brazil Lower Respiratory Infections 1,895.0 12 Bangladesh Tuberculosis 1,853.6 13 Angola Lower Respiratory Infections 1,777.6 14 Chad Lower Respiratory Infections 1,731.4 15 Tanzania HIV/AIDS 1,693.7 16 Somalia Lower Respiratory Infections 1,547.7 17 Niger Malaria 1,502.3 18 Kenya HIV/AIDS 1,395.9 19 Uganda HIV/AIDS 1,379.5 20 Côte d'Ivoire Lower Respiratory Infections 1,364.6 21 Burkina Faso Malaria 1,305.3 22 Cameroon Lower Respiratory Infections 1,219.4 23 Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS 1,201.7 24 Mali Lower Respiratory Infections 1,166.6 25 Zambia HIV/AIDS 1,118.9 26 Russia HIV/AIDS 1,114.1 27 Japan Lower Respiratory Infections 1,108.5 28 United States of America Lower Respiratory Infections 1,021.7 29 Egypt Lower Respiratory Infections 1,007.0 30 Myanmar Tuberculosis 1,006.7 31 Yemen Lower Respiratory Infections 891.5 32 Sudan Lower Respiratory Infections 887.2 33 Malawi HIV/AIDS 806.3 34 Madagascar Measles 800.1 35 Guinea Lower Respiratory Infections 796.8 36 Ghana HIV/AIDS 789.6 37 North Korea Tuberculosis 776.5 38 Mexico Lower Respiratory Infections 739.1 39 Vietnam Lower Respiratory Infections 735.6 40 South Sudan Lower Respiratory Infections 715.5 41 Thailand HIV/AIDS 715.2 42 Nepal Tuberculosis 689.1 43 Argentina Lower Respiratory Infections 641.6 44 Benin Lower Respiratory Infections 635.8 45 Sierra Leone Malaria 614.1 46 Malaysia Lower Respiratory Infections 507.4 47 Burundi Lower Respiratory Infections 495.7 48 United Kingdom Lower Respiratory Infections 481.3 49 Iran Lower Respiratory Infections 438.7 50 Togo Malaria 430.3 51 Senegal Lower Respiratory Infections 406.6 52 Haiti Lower Respiratory Infections 406.1 53 Iraq Lower Respiratory Infections 402.0 54 Venezuela HIV/AIDS 340.0 55 Peru Lower Respiratory Infections 329.6 56 South Korea Lower Respiratory Infections 328.0 57 Guatemala Lower Respiratory Infections 325.1 58 Central African Republic Lower Respiratory Infections 318.9 59 Poland Lower Respiratory Infections 313.8 60 Algeria Lower Respiratory Infections 309.9 61 Cambodia Lower Respiratory Infections 303.8 62 Ukraine HIV/AIDS 301.8 63 Lesotho HIV/AIDS 295.6 64 Germany Lower Respiratory Infections 284.7 65 Morocco Lower Respiratory Infections 276.7 66 Botswana HIV/AIDS 275.4 67 Rwanda Lower Respiratory Infections 270.9 68 Congo HIV/AIDS 266.4 69 Turkey Lower Respiratory Infections 263.9 70 Colombia Lower Respiratory Infections 263.4 71 Uzbekistan Lower Respiratory Infections 253.8 72 Papua New Guinea Tuberculosis 251.9 73 Liberia Measles 223.8 74 Romania Lower Respiratory Infections 222.2 75 Tajikistan Lower Respiratory Infections 213.2 76 Syria Diarrheal diseases 212.0 77 France Lower Respiratory Infections 210.4 78 Saudi Arabia Lower Respiratory Infections 205.4 79 Bolivia Lower Respiratory Infections 192.3 80 Namibia HIV/AIDS 174.2 81 Italy Lower Respiratory Infections 171.7 82 Mauritania Lower Respiratory Infections 171.6 83 Turkmenistan HIV/AIDS 152.2 84 Spain Lower Respiratory Infections 151.6 85 Laos Lower Respiratory Infections 143.4 86 Eswatini HIV/AIDS 143.1 87 Ecuador Lower Respiratory Infections 133.1 88 Cuba Lower Respiratory Infections 130.6 89 Kazakhstan Lower Respiratory Infections 128.5 90 Eritrea Lower Respiratory Infections 125.8 91 Sri Lanka Lower Respiratory Infections 114.6 92 Equatorial Guinea HIV/AIDS 113.2 93 Canada Lower Respiratory Infections 97.1 94 Dominican Republic HIV/AIDS 97.0 95 Gabon Tuberculosis 91.9 96 Greece Lower Respiratory Infections 84.3 97 Guinea-Bissau HIV/AIDS 84.1 98 Azerbaijan Lower Respiratory Infections 80.6 99 Portugal Lower Respiratory Infections 78.8 100 Singapore Lower Respiratory Infections 74.8 101 Gambia Lower Respiratory Infections 72.3 102 Czechia Lower Respiratory Infections 65.0 103 Belgium Lower Respiratory Infections 62.9 104 Chile Lower Respiratory Infections 58.7 105 Netherlands Lower Respiratory Infections 56.3 106 Honduras Lower Respiratory Infections 54.4 107 Australia Lower Respiratory Infections 53.2 108 El Salvador Lower Respiratory Infections 52.6 109 Tunisia Lower Respiratory Infections 52.6 110 Paraguay Lower Respiratory Infections 52.2 111 Timor-Leste Tuberculosis 50.3 112 Nicaragua Lower Respiratory Infections 47.5 113 Kyrgyzstan Lower Respiratory Infections 47.4 114 Jordan Lower Respiratory Infections 44.2 115 Libya Tuberculosis 42.5 116 Moldova Lower Respiratory Infections 40.4 117 Comoros Lower Respiratory Infections 37.4 118 Slovakia Lower Respiratory Infections 36.7 119 Jamaica HIV/AIDS 35.9 120 Serbia Lower Respiratory Infections 35.9 121 Bulgaria Lower Respiratory Infections 33.8 122 Panama HIV/AIDS 32.9 123 Djibouti Lower Respiratory Infections 30.5 124 Sweden Lower Respiratory Infections 30.3 125 Belarus Lower Respiratory Infections 28.4 126 Hungary Lower Respiratory Infections 27.5 127 Denmark Lower Respiratory Infections 25.5 128 Mongolia Lower Respiratory Infections 23.7 129 Armenia Lower Respiratory Infections 23.2 130 United Arab Emirates Lower Respiratory Infections 22.5 131 Oman Lower Respiratory Infections 22.4 132 Georgia Lower Respiratory Infections 22.2 133 Lebanon Lower Respiratory Infections 21.1 134 Switzerland Lower Respiratory Infections 21.0 135 Austria Lower Respiratory Infections 19.3 136 Israel Lower Respiratory Infections 19.3 137 Uruguay Lower Respiratory Infections 19.2 138 Costa Rica Lower Respiratory Infections 18.6 139 Norway Lower Respiratory Infections 18.3 140 Ireland Lower Respiratory Infections 14.6 141 Solomon Islands Lower Respiratory Infections 14.5 142 Lithuania Lower Respiratory Infections 13.9 143 Guyana HIV/AIDS 13.5 144 Croatia Lower Respiratory Infections 13.4 145 New Zealand Lower Respiratory Infections 11.5 146 Fiji Lower Respiratory Infections 11.3 147 Kuwait Lower Respiratory Infections 10.8 148 Latvia Lower Respiratory Infections 10.7 149 Albania Lower Respiratory Infections 10.0 150 Trinidad and Tobago HIV/AIDS 9.6 151 Bosnia and Herzegovina Lower Respiratory Infections 8.3 152 Mauritius Lower Respiratory Infections 8.1 153 Bhutan Diarrheal diseases 7.6 154 Bahamas HIV/AIDS 6.9 155 Suriname HIV/AIDS 6.8 156 Vanuatu Lower Respiratory Infections 6.6 157 Finland Lower Respiratory Infections 6.5 158 Belize HIV/AIDS 6.4 159 Cabo Verde Lower Respiratory Infections 6.1 160 Estonia Lower Respiratory Infections 5.9 161 Sao Tome and Principe Lower Respiratory Infections 4.9 162 Slovenia Lower Respiratory Infections 4.3 163 North Macedonia Lower Respiratory Infections 4.2 164 Qatar Lower Respiratory Infections 3.5 165 Kiribati Lower Respiratory Infections 3.3 166 Bahrain Diarrheal diseases 2.9 167 Barbados Lower Respiratory Infections 2.8 168 Micronesia Lower Respiratory Infections 2.6 169 Malta Lower Respiratory Infections 2.3 170 Samoa Lower Respiratory Infections 1.9 171 Brunei Lower Respiratory Infections 1.7 172 Seychelles Lower Respiratory Infections 1.7 173 Montenegro Lower Respiratory Infections 1.6 174 Cyprus Diarrheal diseases 1.5 175 Saint Lucia Lower Respiratory Infections 1.4 176 Luxembourg Lower Respiratory Infections 1.3 177 Maldives Diarrheal diseases 1.1 178 Tonga Lower Respiratory Infections 1.0 179 Grenada Lower Respiratory Infections 0.9 180 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Lower Respiratory Infections 0.9 181 Iceland Lower Respiratory Infections 0.8 182 Antigua and Barbuda Lower Respiratory Infections 0.4

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