Question

Based on statistics from a worldwide health organization, in 2005 there were 36 million people worldwide living with a certain disease, and 2 million deaths from the disease. By 2015, the number of people living with the disease had fallen to 28.4 million, and 2.1 million deaths were reported. Find the percent change for each statistic, and write any conclusions you can draw.

Answer 1

The percent change of people living with the disease is a decrease of 21.1%

The percent change in deaths is 5%

Let's find first the percent change of the people living with the disease:

In 2005, 36 million lived with the disease. In 2015 there was a drop to 28.4 million.

To find the percent change, we first rest:

`36,000,000-28,400,000=7,600,000`

Now, we divide this quantity by the original amount:

`(7,600,000)/(36,000,000)=(19)/(90)\approx0.211`

To convert this quantity to percentage, we multiply by 100:

`(19)/(90)\cdot100=(190)/(9)\approx21.1`

The percent change of people living with the disease is a decrease of 21.1%

Now, let's see the percent change in deaths.

In 2005 died 2 million people. In 2015 died 2.1 million people.

To find the percent change, we first rest:

`2,100,000-2,000,000=100,000`

And now we divide this quantity by the original:

`(100,000)/(2,000,000)=0.05`

To convert to percentage, we multiply by 100:

`0.05\cdot100=5`

The percent change in deaths is 5%

The conclusion we can draw from this is that, although the increase in the deaths, the decrease in people with the disease translates to roughly 1 of every 5 people with had the disease no longer have it, which means a great decrease in the people in total that dies and suffer from the disease.