The World Health Organization has urged its member nations to devise action plans and reduce the global burden of non-communicable diseases. A new report on the global non communicable diseases 2014, revealed that nearly 16 million people die prematurely from heart and lung diseases, stroke, cancer and diabetes annually.
Launching the report, Dr Margaret Chan, director-general, WHO, said, "By investing just $ 1-3 dollars per person per year, countries can dramatically reduce illness and death from NCDs. In 2015, every country needs to set national targets and implement cost-effective actions. If they do not, millions of lives will continue to be lost too soon."
The health agency further said that premature NCDs deaths can be reduced through government policies regulating the use of tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and delivering universal health care.
The report states that nearly three quarters of all NCD deaths (28 million), and 82 per cent of the 16 million premature deaths, occur in low- and middle-income countries. WHO has called for more action to curb the epidemic, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where deaths due to NCDs are overtaking those from infectious diseases.
