GLOBMOD is developing new metrics capturing the relationship between human health, animal health, agriculture, and environmental sustainability. As an example, in 2013 we proposed a new metric called:
SDALY= Sustainable Disability Adjusted Life Year
The SDALY metric measures the number of healthy human-life years that are lost to human disability and premature death, and to inappropriate use and management of natural resources and technology. It is intended to capture losses of ‘healthy-human-life-years carrying capacity’, and the broader impact of public-health interventions and of changes in agricultural practices.
In the first and very preliminary formulation of the SDALY metric (which was described in a Grand Challenge research proposal submitted in 2013 to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) we focused on the impact of protein-energy and animal farming on human survival, however we are currently expanding that concept and seeking new ways of taking into account the impact of combinations of nutrients on human health and life, and the relationship between nutrient production and the environment.
SDALY= Sustainable Disability Adjusted Life Year
The SDALY metric measures the number of healthy human-life years that are lost to human disability and premature death, and to inappropriate use and management of natural resources and technology. It is intended to capture losses of ‘healthy-human-life-years carrying capacity’, and the broader impact of public-health interventions and of changes in agricultural practices.
In the first and very preliminary formulation of the SDALY metric (which was described in a Grand Challenge research proposal submitted in 2013 to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) we focused on the impact of protein-energy and animal farming on human survival, however we are currently expanding that concept and seeking new ways of taking into account the impact of combinations of nutrients on human health and life, and the relationship between nutrient production and the environment.