Top Stories: Disaster Aid, Youth Employment, Oral Health, and Prosthetics for Amputees

Watch a 13-minute video featuring the World Economic Forum's top stories of the week. Explore four critical global issues: the overlooked epidemic of oral diseases affecting 3.5 billion people worldwide, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' rapid disaster response capabilities, the current state of global youth unemployment, and innovative efforts to provide affordable prosthetics to amputees in Mexico. Gain insights into these pressing challenges and the initiatives addressing them on both local and global scales.

Common diseases often overlooked – Oral diseases include tooth decay, gum disease and oral cancer, among others. They afflict nearly half the world’s population, some 3.5 billion people. That’s 1 billion more than cases of mental illness, heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease and all cancers - combined. Oral health programmes are often neglected by the global health agenda as governments fail to invest in dental facilities and workforces.
Providing disaster aid to millions – The IFRC has a presence in almost every country, with systems in place that allow it to respond to crises both large and small. The IFRC disaster fund can be mobilized in a matter of hours if a small-scale disaster occurs. In a bigger crisis, they have to get the international community involved to mobilize aid on a larger scale.
Empowering global youth employment – In 2023, the global youth unemployment rate was 13%. This is the lowest global rate for 15 years. But the picture is not the same across countries with a higher rate in many developing regions. Aftershocks from the Covid-19 pandemic badly affected youth employment but other factors are also at play, say experts.
Restoring mobility for amputees in Mexico – Proactible manufactures low-cost prostheses for people with lower-body amputations. Demand for prosthetics is growing fast in Mexico, where 10,000 people undergo amputations every year. The waiting list for a state-funded prosthesis can be up to 4 years says Carlos Calderón, Founder and CEO of Proactible.