What will I learn about: why slapdash global health data historically hindered the proper allocation of medical funding and how one man set out to fix it?

Discover why slapdash global health data historically hindered the proper allocation of medical funding and how one man set out to fix it.

What will I learn about: Learn how a childhood medical sabbatical in Africa taught Christopher Murray that careful analysis and tenacious research are critical skills in treating disease?

Learn how a childhood medical sabbatical in Africa taught Christopher Murray that careful analysis and tenacious research are critical skills in treating disease.

What will I learn about: why relying solely on life expectancy and infant mortality rates creates a misleading picture of global health that completely ignores a patient's actual quality of life?

Understand why relying solely on life expectancy and infant mortality rates creates a misleading picture of global health that completely ignores a patient's actual quality of life.

What will I learn about: how siloed health organizations manipulated statistics to secure funding, resulting in a disastrous '10/90-gap' where 90 percent of global health problems received only 10 percent of research funds?

Find out how siloed health organizations manipulated statistics to secure funding, resulting in a disastrous '10/90-gap' where 90 percent of global health problems received only 10 percent of research funds.

What will I learn about: Explore how shifting statistical focus to neglected adult diseases, like tuberculosis, helped secure targeted funding that quickly saved millions of lives?

Explore how shifting statistical focus to neglected adult diseases, like tuberculosis, helped secure targeted funding that quickly saved millions of lives.

Epic Measures

One Doctor. Seven Billion Patients.

Jeremy N. Smith

★ 3.8 / 5(16 ratings)

Start ListeningDownload QR code that opens AudiobookHub on the App Store

Try free on iPhoneScan to start in 5 seconds

Categories:

Health & Nutrition Biography & Memoir

If You're Curious About These Questions...

You should listen to this audiobook

💡Did you know that one man’s obsession led to the creation of a literal 'map' of every disease and injury known to humanity?
💡Have you ever wondered why the world’s most powerful health organizations were looking at the wrong data for decades—and what it took to finally correct them?
💡What if you could pinpoint exactly which diseases are stealing the most years of healthy life from people in any corner of the globe?

Listen to Epic Measures — Free Audiobook

Loading player...

Key Takeaways from Epic Measures

✓Discover why slapdash global health data historically hindered the proper allocation of medical funding and how one man set out to fix it.
✓Learn how a childhood medical sabbatical in Africa taught Christopher Murray that careful analysis and tenacious research are critical skills in treating disease.
✓Understand why relying solely on life expectancy and infant mortality rates creates a misleading picture of global health that completely ignores a patient's actual quality of life.
✓Find out how siloed health organizations manipulated statistics to secure funding, resulting in a disastrous '10/90-gap' where 90 percent of global health problems received only 10 percent of research funds.
✓Explore how shifting statistical focus to neglected adult diseases, like tuberculosis, helped secure targeted funding that quickly saved millions of lives.

Learning Tools

Reinforce what you learned from Epic Measures

Mind Map

Epic Measures

Flawed Legacy Health Data (1980s)+

Christopher Murray's Foundation+

The DALY & Global Burden of Disease+

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)+

Core Takeaways+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 8

What crucial lesson about disease analysis did Christopher Murray learn during his childhood sabbatical at a hospital in Niger?

A. Malaria outbreaks could be inadvertently worsened by hospital-distributed vitamin supplements containing iron.
B. The lack of running water and electricity was the primary cause of hospital-acquired infections.
C. Mobile clinics were largely ineffective in the Sahara desert without proper government funding.
D. Most patients in rural villages suffered from malnutrition rather than infectious diseases.

Question 2 of 8

Why did Murray consider the infant-mortality rate and life expectancy to be misleading indicators of a country's overall health in the 1980s?

A. They failed to account for the impact of non-fatal illnesses and the overall quality of a person's life.
B. They were based exclusively on hospital records, ignoring people who died in rural areas.
C. They heavily favored developed nations that had access to advanced pediatric care.
D. They only tracked communicable diseases and ignored injuries caused by accidents or war.

Question 3 of 8

In the 1980s, how did the organizational structure of the World Health Organization (WHO) negatively impact global health data?

A. Departments were organized by specific diseases, leading teams to overestimate statistics to secure more funding.
B. Staff members were frequently rotated between departments, preventing long-term data collection.
C. The organization relied solely on a 30-year-old formula instead of gathering new field data.
D. Departments refused to share data with the UN, resulting in two entirely separate global health databases.

Question 4 of 8

What did Christopher Murray mean by the '10/90-gap' in his early published research?

A. 90 percent of the world's health problems received only 10 percent of the research funds.
B. 10 percent of the world's population consumed 90 percent of global healthcare resources.
C. Only 10 percent of data collected by the UN was verified, leaving 90 percent highly inaccurate.
D. 90 percent of infant deaths could be prevented by just 10 percent of the World Bank's budget.

Question 5 of 8

What two factors are combined to calculate a 'disability-adjusted life year' (DALY) in Murray’s health measurement system?

A. The number of years lost to early death and the detrimental impact of non-fatal illnesses on quality of life.
B. The financial cost of medical treatments and the average life expectancy of a specific country.
C. The infant mortality rate and the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in adults.
D. The total government spending on healthcare and the number of hospital beds per capita.

Question 6 of 8

Why did the initial results of the Global Burden of Disease study generate backlash from the World Health Organization (WHO)?

A. The data revealed that 90 percent of WHO staff were working on issues that accounted for less than half of global health loss.
B. The study argued that WHO should be completely defunded and replaced by a new independent organization.
C. WHO felt that Murray had stolen their proprietary data to publish the study under his own name.
D. The results suggested that communicable diseases were no longer a threat, contradicting WHO's primary mission.

Question 7 of 8

What led Christopher Murray to leave the World Health Organization and eventually found the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)?

A. He was demoted to an advisory role after publishing a report that unfavorably ranked the health systems of powerful member nations.
B. He realized that academic institutions could collect global health data much faster than bureaucratic organizations.
C. He was offered a lucrative contract by the World Bank to exclusively manage their tuberculosis projects in China.
D. He disagreed with WHO's new policy to focus exclusively on non-communicable diseases like diabetes.

Question 8 of 8

How did Murray's research evolve in 2012 to further improve global health interventions?

A. He began focusing on the root causes of diseases, such as household air pollution, to help governments implement preventative policies.
B. He shifted his focus entirely to the United States, aiming to improve its global healthcare ranking.
C. He stopped publishing written reports and only released data directly to major pharmaceutical companies.
D. He started analyzing the genetic predispositions of different populations to predict future pandemics.

Epic Measures — Full Chapter Overview

1Recommendation
21 — Christopher Murray’s unusual childhood taught him key lessons about analyzing and treating disease.
32 — In the 1980s, health organizations relied on poor and unreliable ways to measure global health.
43 — Health data was also distorted to defend ineffective work and funding.
54 — Murray created a better way to measure global health by focusing on quality of life and years lost.
65 — Murray’s study results revealed neglected issues and brought him criticism and scorn.
76 — After being pushed out of the World Health Organization, Murray founded a new institute to improve global health.
87 — Murray’s organization now publishes updated, easy-to-access versions of the Global Burden Study.
98 — Final summary

Epic Measures Summary & Overview

Epic Measures (2015) tells the incredible story of how one man, Christopher Murray, came to build the most comprehensive medical study ever assembled. Find out what motivated Murray and his dedicated team of collaborators to build a worldwide map of every disease and illness known to man – and discover how his remarkable work has revolutionized the face of world health.

Who Should Listen to Epic Measures?

Medical students
Readers working in the health sector
Humanitarians

About the Author: Jeremy N. Smith

Jeremy N. Smith is a freelance writer and journalist. His work has appeared in the Atlantic, Discover and the New York Times. He is also the author of the book Growing a Garden City, which provides insight into how communities can be built through local gardens and farms.

Epic Measures

If You're Curious About These Questions...

Listen to Epic Measures — Free Audiobook

Key Takeaways from Epic Measures

Learning Tools

Mind Map

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Epic Measures — Full Chapter Overview

Epic Measures Summary & Overview

Who Should Listen to Epic Measures?

About the Author: Jeremy N. Smith

Books Similar to Epic Measures