Non-communicable diseases on the rise - report

CMC – A United Nations report has revealed that the number of Caribbean people with high blood pressure and diabetes is drastically increasing in developed and developing countries.



Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Chan said the report is evidence of the dramatic increase in the conditions that trigger heart disease and other chronic illnesses, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.



WHO’s World Health Statistics 2012 report, which includes data from 194 countries, said that one in three adults worldwide has raised blood pressure and one in 10 suffers from diabetes.



It said the global average prevalence of diabetes is around 10 per cent, with up to one in three people in some Pacific Island countries having this condition.



Left untreated, diabetes can lead to cardiovascular disease, blindness, amputation of limbs and kidney failure.



An increase in obesity is also highlighted in the report as being a major health risk.



According to the report, the highest obesity levels are in the Americas, with 26 per cent of adults suffering from obesity, and the lowest in the South-East Asian region, where only three per cent of the population is obese.



It said in all parts of the world, women are more likely to be obese than men, making them more vulnerable to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.



It further states that in high-income countries, widespread diagnosis and treatment with low-cost medication have reduced mean blood pressure across populations, leading in turn to a reduction in deaths from heart disease.



However, in Africa, more than 40 per cent of adults in many countries are estimated to have high blood pressure – most of them remain undiagnosed, even though many of these cases could be treated with low-cost medications, which would significantly reduce the risk of death.



According to WHO, non-communicable diseases currently cause almost two thirds of all deaths worldwide.