Global health metrics and non-communicable diseases: the case of hypertension

Non-Communicable Diseases in the Global Health Agenda

For a long time non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been a major cause of death and disability worldwide. However, the profile of this health challenge is changing: Having dominated the epidemiologic contour of high-income countries in the 20th century, it is now increasingly affecting the developing regions of our planet. Unless we start implementing measures to reduce the burden of NCDs in ...

Intersection 2: non-communicable diseases and global health equity.

Global Non-Communicable Diseases—The Nutrition Conundrum

Poor diets reduce our productivity and increase premature morbidity and mortality (1). Recent estimates suggest that ~45% of cardio-metabolic deaths in 2012 (318,000/702,000) were “associated with” top 10 dietary factors: fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds, whole grains, unprocessed red meats, processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, polyunsaturated fats, seafood omega-3 fats, and sodium (2). Mo...

Non-communicable diseases and global health governance: enhancing global processes to improve health development

This paper assesses progress in the development of a global framework for responding to non-communicable diseases, as reflected in the policies and initiatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank and the UN: the institutions most capable of shaping a coherent global policy. Responding to the global burden of chronic disease requires a strategic assessment of the global processes ...

The politics of non-communicable diseases in the global South

In this paper, we explore the emergence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as an object of political concern in and for countries of the global South. While epidemiologists and public health practitioners and scholars have long expressed concern with the changing global distribution of the burden of NCDs, it is only in more recent years that the aetiology, politics and consequences of these sh...