Published 23 June 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2533
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2533

Letters

Non-communicable diseases

Please redress the balance of millennium development goals

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The landmark millennium development goals provide a road map for reducing the disease, poverty, and hunger faced by millions worldwide. Unfortunately, the progress they have instigated is at risk of being undermined by new threats.¹

Cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) currently claim more than 35 million lives each year, accounting for 60% of all deaths worldwide. When measured in disability adjusted life years (DALYs), they also account for nearly half of the entire burden of disease globally. Fortunately, many interventions simultaneously prevent many of them, thus improving cost-benefit ratios. Their effective control also requires the strengthening of health service structures, thereby providing benefits that encompass infectious diseases, although the reverse is not the case.

The impact of NCDs can be felt in all regions of the world and all age groups. Most (80%) deaths from them occur in low and middle income countries, where they often . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research (INCTR), Brussels, Belgium, ² American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA, ³ International Union Against Cancer (UICC), Geneva, Switzerland, ⁴ International Atomic Energy Authority, Vienna, Austria, ⁵ Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India, ⁶ African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), Ocean Road Cancer Institute, Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania

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