Gut Feelings: Why Digestive Health Deserves More Attention in Global Health

World Digestive Health Day, marked each year on 29 May, rarely commands the attention of global health funders or headline-makers. But it should. Digestive health is not a niche issue, it’s a lens through which we can better understand nutrition, chronic disease, health system gaps, and inequality.

Across the globe, millions live with undiagnosed or untreated digestive conditions. These range from common, manageable disorders like reflux or irritable bowel syndrome to life-threatening diseases such as colorectal cancer. In many lower-income countries, people face long journeys to access care if that care exists at all. Diagnostic tools like endoscopy or pathology services may be unavailable, and specialist expertise in gastroenterology is often concentrated in urban centres, far from rural communities.

The consequences go beyond discomfort. Poor digestive health affects growth and development in children, contributes to anaemia and micronutrient deficiencies, and increases vulnerability to other diseases. It also limits people's ability to work, study, or care for others, costing households and health systems alike. And in places affected by conflict, displacement, or food insecurity, digestive health issues often go unrecorded and untreated, overshadowed by more immediate survival needs.

Even in well-resourced health systems, digestive conditions are often misdiagnosed, delayed, or dismissed, particularly for women, migrants, and people with complex health needs. There’s a growing body of evidence linking digestive conditions to social determinants of health: food access, stress, housing, and healthcare navigation. But these connections are rarely made visible in global health strategies or funding flows.

Digestive health also intersects with the global rise in non-communicable diseases. Conditions like gastrointestinal cancers and liver disease are increasing in both high- and low-income countries. Yet global investment in digestive health trails behind other major NCD priorities like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or respiratory conditions.

So much of this is about visibility. Digestive symptoms can be private, stigmatised, or normalised. People don’t always have the language or confidence to seek help. And in turn, health systems don’t always have the frameworks to recognise or respond.

On World Digestive Health Day, we’re reminded that some of the most common and impactful health conditions are still missing from the centre of global health conversations. Digestive health isn’t a side issue, it’s part of the bigger picture.

And sometimes, what doesn’t get counted is exactly what we need to pay closer attention to.