The reason begins with what English unlocks. In India, researchers using the India Human Development Survey found that men who speak English fluently earn about 34% more per hour than men who speak none, and even a little English carried a 13% premium. That fluency bonus is roughly on par with finishing secondary school. English does not make anyone smarter, of course. What it gives people is access: to better universities, to multinational employers, and to international clients. Let's see how this proves true in the Global South.

The Philippines shows how far this can go with its outsourcing industry, which currently employs around 1.6 million people and earns roughly $32 billion a year, partly because of its large English-speaking workforce .

That access exists because of colonial history , and independence did not undo it. Pakistan's constitution set 1988 as the deadline for replacing English with Urdu, yet English still dominates higher education, law, and corporate life today. Kenya kept English's prestige after independence, and in 2025, Nigeria reaffirmed it as the language of instruction from primary school to university, pointing to its 500-plus indigenous languages and a shortage of teachers and materials. Once a country's schools, offices, and courts are built around a language, letting go of it becomes very difficult.

Of course, a language that opens doors raises another question: who gets to learn it well? Wealthy families raise children speaking English at home and send them to English-medium schools. Poorer families want the same advantage but often cannot reach it. In Islamabad, private schooling can cost $80 to $140 a month, while the median monthly wage in Pakistan is about $120. And after all that investment, there is still the IELTS exam, which costs around $270, more than two months of that median wage, just to confirm what thirteen years of English schooling had already proven.

Even then, fluency may not be enough. A meta-analysis of 139 findings found that candidates with standard accents were rated more hireable, partly because listeners read the accent as a sign of social status. The effect reaches online, too. Also, a study of 5,367 TED Talks found that speakers with non-native accents received less engagement, even after accounting for topic and fame, because of stereotypes and the extra effort of processing an unfamiliar accent.

All of this feeds a loop. That is, English brings opportunity, so families who can afford it invest in English-medium schooling. Their children grow up more fluent and more comfortable, which helps them land better jobs, and eventually they raise their own children in English from birth. English can be a ladder to mobility, but some people are born halfway up it.

None of this means English itself is the villain. It connects a Filipino call centre worker to an American company and gives a Nigerian academic an international audience. The trouble starts when we mistake access to English, or a particular accent, for intelligence. One is ability, the other is opportunity.

So the question is not only what an English accent is worth. It is who can afford to acquire one.

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Despite significant advances in medical research and healthcare, heart-related illnesses continue to pose the greatest health threat across member states, accounting for over 1.7 million deaths annually.

Eurostat ’s 2024 report reveals that approximately 32% of all deaths in the EU are attributed to cardiovascular diseases, which include conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, and hypertension-related complications.

WHO data further underscores this trend, indicating that ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease (primarily strokes) are the two main culprits behind premature mortality in the region.

While cancer and other chronic diseases have become more prominent in public discourse, cardiovascular diseases still eclipse them in terms of total fatalities. The burden is especially pronounced in Central and Eastern European countries, where lifestyle factors, limited access to preventive care, and economic disparities contribute to higher mortality rates.

CVDs affect both men and women, though the patterns differ. Eurostat data shows that men are more likely to suffer fatal heart attacks at a younger age, while women tend to have higher rates of fatal strokes later in life.

Countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary report the highest age-standardised mortality rates from cardiovascular causes, in contrast to France, Spain, and Italy, where rates are considerably lower due to better diet, healthcare access, and public health initiatives.