What is a global burden of disease?

Global Burden of Disease (GBD) is an indicator used by the experts to measure the number of people dying prematurely due to a particular disease. This also includes the number of years spent by them in a state of disability due to various diseases. India bears a frightening 20 % of the GBD. More than half of the GBD is accounted by communicable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria and tuberculosis.