Non-communicable diseases become world’s leading cause of death, says WHO

Cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory and mental health problems have become the leading cause of death in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that these and other chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have overtaken infectious diseases and cause nearly three-quarters of global deaths, with 41 million victims each year.

This Wednesday (21), the WHO publishes unprecedented statistics and launches a data portal on the public health problem and associated risk factors. The report reveals the current scale of the disease threat and also presents possibilities for cost-effective interventions that, if applied by countries, can change the landscape, save lives and save health care costs.

The WHO argues that tackling the key risk factors that lead to these diseases can prevent or delay significant health problems and large numbers of deaths from these diseases.

Brazilian cutout

The new portal brings together the latest country-specific data, risk factors and policy implementation for 194 countries.

The document allows exploring the data for the four NCDs (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases) and their main drivers and risk factors (such as smoking, unhealthy diet, harmful use of alcohol and lack of physical activity). The portal makes patterns and trends across countries visible and allows for comparison across countries or within geographic regions.

In Brazil, NCDs are responsible for about 75% of deaths, according to WHO estimates. Statistics show that the distribution of causes of death in the country is divided between: cardiovascular diseases (28%), cancer (18%), communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions (14%), chronic respiratory diseases (7%), diabetes (5%) and other NCDs (17%).

The document also presents the distribution of risk factors to the development of chronic diseases in each country, such as alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity and physical inactivity.

The data reveal that Brazil has an incidence of 13% of use of tobacco among the population over 15 years of age. According to the WHO, age standardization allows comparison between countries, and tobacco use includes chewing tobacco and different ways of smoking tobacco.

In Brazil, the estimated prevalence of smoking in adolescents and adults aged 15 years and over is also 13%.

O total alcohol consumption per person is 7.3 liters per year.

O average salt consumption among the population over 25 years old is 9 grams a day. The amount exceeds the WHO recommended limit of 5 grams daily.

About lack of physical activity , statistics indicate that 47% of adults over 18 years old remain sedentary or even perform some type of exercise, but in an amount below the recommended. Among adolescents aged 11 to 17, the rate is 84%. The WHO recommends a minimum of 150 to 300 minutes of aerobic activity per week for healthy adults and an average of 60 minutes per day for children and adolescents.

already the hypertension affects 45% of adults between 30 and 79 years old in the country. High blood pressure is one of the main risk factors for the development of cardiovascular and kidney diseases, in addition to being frequently associated with other chronic problems and events such as sudden death, stroke, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure and peripheral arterial disease. .

According to the WHO report, 22% of Brazilians over 18 are obese while among adolescents aged 10 to 19, the obesity rate is 9%.

Public health problem

At NCDs are a problem everywhere, although disease patterns vary across countries and regions. According to the WHO, more than three quarters of all deaths why these diseases occur in low- and middle-income countries, which makes them a matter of equity and development.

The factors in the development of these diseases are social, environmental, commercial and genetic. According to WHO estimates, every year, 17 million people under the age of 70 die from NCDs, with 86% of them living in low- and middle-income countries. In addition, the public health problem represents significant losses for the economies of countries, with cost estimates of up to US$ 30 trillion in the years 2011 to 2030.

The WHO report points out that consumption of unhealthy foods, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol are heavily influenced by the industry, including product formulation, packaging design, marketing and promotions. The WHO says government actions are vital to ensuring that companies play a role in reducing rather than increasing health inequality.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom says that the Covid-19 pandemic especially affected people living with the diseases.

“The pandemic has demonstrated that protecting and promoting health is not just the domain of ministers of health. Like Covid-19, NCDs endanger lives, livelihoods and global development, which means that preventing and managing these diseases requires a concerted effort, with a whole-of-government and society-wide response. all countries and sectors. This report is a reminder of the true scale of the threat posed by NCDs and their risk factors. But crucially, it also shows what can be done to prevent them,” says Adhanom.

The WHO warns that cost-effective interventions can be applied globally with the aim of preventing or reducing the impacts of diseases. “If all countries adopted interventions that work, at least 39 million deaths from NCDs could be avoided by 2030, and countless other lives would be longer, healthier and happier,” the report says.

Among the actions required for effective changes in the scenario of chronic non-communicable diseases, the WHO cites the will of managers, public policies and interventions, strengthening the provision of health care and protection of the most vulnerable populations.

Check out some indicators highlighted in the WHO report:

Cardiovascular diseases

• 1 in 3 deaths – 17.9 million people per year
• 86% of deaths from disease could have been prevented or delayed through prevention and treatment
• Two-thirds of people with hypertension live in low- and middle-income countries
• Nearly half of people with high blood pressure don’t know they have the condition.
• Hypertension currently affects an estimated 1.3 billion adults aged 30 to 79 years.

Cancer

• 1 in 6 deaths – 9.3 million people per year
• 44% of cancer deaths could have been avoided or postponed by eliminating health risks

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

• 1 in 13 deaths – 4.1 million people per year
• 70% of deaths from chronic respiratory diseases could have been prevented or delayed by eliminating health risks

Diabetes

• 1 in 28 deaths – 2 million people per year
• More than 95% of diabetes cases worldwide are type 2 diabetes

Tobacco

• 8 million deaths
• More than a million passive smokers

Food

The WHO states that consumption of unhealthy foods, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol are strongly influenced by commercial determinants of health, including product formulation, packaging design, marketing and promotions. Although they can affect everyone, young people are at particular risk according to the WHO.

“The tobacco and alcohol industries actively target vulnerable populations such as children and youth to consume their products. Government action is vital to ensure that companies play a role in reducing rather than increasing health inequality and that any negative private sector influence on health is minimised.

unhealthy diet

• 8 million deaths from NCDs per year
• All dietary hazards combined account for 19% of NCD deaths

Alcohol

• 1.7 million deaths from NCDs in 2016
• 4% of NCD deaths

physical inactivity

• 830 thousand deaths from NCDs per year
• 2% of deaths from NCDs

Obesity

• Overweight, or obesity, is an important risk factor for NCDs, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal diseases, and some cancers.
• Obesity worldwide has nearly tripled since 1975

Air pollution

• In 2019, an estimated 99% of the global population lived in places where the WHO Air Quality Guidelines – were not met.