Death 101

This global health and life sciences course enables learners to investigate health problems affecting large populations – the whole world in fact! By understanding the big numbers in global mortality and their causes and distributions you will learn how to think numerically about global health. We will use real data from real people to ask the questions: What are the major causes of death in the world? Why do we need cause of death statistics? How does counting the dead help the living?

We begin with a historical perspective on global mortality and end with a hopeful look toward future trends. In between, you will learn about how death prior to old age can be avoided, worldwide mortality rates, and specific diseases such as HIV, malaria, childhood conditions, chronic diseases, and risk factors such as smoking. This course will help you use population statistics to understand how rapid gains in health are possible.

What you'll learn

• What major factors drive changes in health
• Major causes of death globally and non-communicable diseases
• Important risk factors for disease and death
• Why cause of death statistics are important for global health
• How we measure causes of death
• What will causes of death look like in 2030, and what can we do to reduce premature death