Key facts
- Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) kill 38 million people each year.
- Almost three quarters of NCD deaths – 28 million – occur in low- and middle-income countries.Sixteen million NCD deaths occur before the age of 70; 82% of these “premature” deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
- Cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths, or 17.5 million people annually, followed by cancers (8.2 million), respiratory diseases (4 million), and diabetes (1.5 million).
- These 4 groups of diseases account for 82% of all NCD deaths.
- Tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy diets all increase the risk of dying from an NCD.
Overview
- Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, are not passed from person to person. They are of long duration and generally slow progression. The 4 main types of noncommunicable diseases are cardiovascular diseases (like heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructed pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
- NCDs already disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries where nearly three quarters of NCD deaths – 28 million – occur.
Who is at risk of such diseases?
- All age groups and all regions are affected by NCDs. NCDs are often associated with older age groups, but evidence shows that 16 million of all deaths attributed to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) occur before the age of 70. Of these “premature” deaths, 82% occurred in low- and middle-income countries. Children, adults and the elderly are all vulnerable to the risk factors that contribute to noncommunicable diseases, whether from unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, exposure to tobacco smoke or the effects of the harmful use of alcohol.
- These diseases are driven by forces that include ageing, rapid unplanned urbanization, and the globalization of unhealthy lifestyles. For example, globalization of unhealthy lifestyles like unhealthy diets may show up in individuals as raised blood pressure, increased blood glucose, elevated blood lipids, and obesity. These are called ‘intermediate risk factors’ which can lead to cardiovascular disease, a NCD.
Risk factors
- Modifiable behavioural risk factors
- Tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and the harmful use of alcohol increase the risk of NCDs.
- Tobacco accounts for around 6 million deaths every year (including from the effects of exposure to second-hand smoke), and is projected to increase to 8 million by 2030.
- About 3.2 million deaths annually can be attributed to insufficient physical activity. (1)
- More than half of the 3.3 million annual deaths from harmful drinking are from NCDs 1
- In 2010, 1.7 million annual deaths from cardiovascular causes have been attributed to excess salt/sodium intake.(2)
Metabolic/physiological risk factors
- These behaviours lead to four key metabolic/physiological changes that increase the risk of NCDs: raised blood pressure, overweight/obesity, hyperglycemia (high blood glucose levels) and hyperlipidemia (high levels of fat in the blood).
- In terms of attributable deaths, the leading metabolic risk factor globally is elevated blood pressure (to which 18% of global deaths are attributed) (1) followed by overweight and obesity and raised blood glucose. Low- and middle-income countries are witnessing the fastest rise in overweight young children.
Superintendent, ICH.