Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions, and other chronic diseases increasingly threaten the health and economic security of many lower and middle-income countries, the World Bank warned on Thursday in a report.
The World Bank cautioned that the rise of chronic diseases, especially among young working adults in these countries, was a danger that warranted immediate global attention.
According to the report entitled “The Growing Danger of Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs): Acting Now to Reverse Course”, Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia face alarming chronic disease levels, in excess of those in high-income countries where NCDs have long been the leading cause of death and illness.
“What makes the development impact of chronic diseases so daunting for lower and middle-income countries is that they don’t have the money and the health systems to treat their way out of this crisis, and they’re facing it at far earlier stages of economic progress than their better-off OECD neighbours had to,” said Tamar Manuelyan Atinc, the Bank’s Vice President for Human Development.
“The good news is that with prevention first, the reduction of risk factors such as smoking through the use of tobacco taxes, and the right political and community leadership in place, countries can stem the rise of chronic diseases and cushion their financial and social effects,” said Dr. Cristian Baeza, the Bank’s Director of Health, Nutrition and Population, whose team produced the new report.
