Published 14 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2857
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2857

News

Non-communicable diseases must have greater priority, says WHO

John Zarocostas

1 Geneva

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

The World Health Organization has launched a new global initiative to try to ensure that non-communicable diseases urgently get given much greater priority in the health and development policies of poor nations and on global aid agendas.

At present non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lung disease are responsible for about 35 million deaths each year, or 60% of all deaths worldwide, says WHO. Of these, 80% occur in low and middle income nations.

All four diseases share the same risk factors: tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol, say WHO experts.

The agency predicts that percentage increases in mortality from non-communicable diseases will reach double digits in the coming years, thus the urgent need to act. In the next 10 years, it estimates, the world will see "an overall 17% increase in mortality from these groups of diseases, but the . . . [Full text of this article]


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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

The role of preventive programmes in reducing non-communicable diseases
Harald M Lipman, et al.
bmj.com, 20 Jul 2009 [Full text]
Re: The role of preventive programmes in reducing non-communicable diseases
Les O. Simpson
bmj.com, 21 Jul 2009 [Full text]
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