Life expectancy rates doubled globally over the past two centuries, while child and maternal mortality rates improved dramatically according to a report from Max Roser, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Hannah Ritchie (“Life Expectancy” published online at OurWorldInData.org).

But concerning indicators suggest these gains have slowed. The health impacts of the pandemic and the societal impacts of mitigation tactics brought global public health inequities to the fore.

While the wealthy enjoy reliable and affordable healthcare, many low-income communities lack access to even basic healthcare services–or struggle beneath the burden of massive unpaid medical debt. Preventable and fixable medical conditions such as vision impairment still affect hundreds of millions of people in low-income communities.

During the first-century plagues until today, God’s people have been at the forefront of healthcare provision around the world. Historian Dr. Gary Ferngren said in his recent historical survey published by Johns Hopkins University, “The hospital was, in origin and conception, a distinctively Christian institution, rooted in Christian concepts of charity and philanthropy.”

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