One in three deaths (17.9 million a year globally) is due to cardiovascular diseases: WHO

Every two seconds, one person under the age of 70 dies of a non-communicable disease and 86 per cent of those deaths occur in low and middle income countries.
One in three deaths – or 17.9 million people a year globally – is due to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Now 88 per cent of CVD deaths could have been prevented or delayed through prevention and treatment, says a new WHO report, “Invisible numbers — The True Extent of Non-communicable Diseases and What To Do About Them.” The report was released on Wednesday.
The report further says that two-thirds of the people with hypertension live in low and middle income countries, but almost half of the people with hypertension are not even aware they have it. Hypertension currently affects around 1.3 billion adults, aged between 30 and 79. This major shift in public health over the last decades has gone largely unnoticed, the WHO report added.

However, for Dr K Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India, who has chaired the Research and Innovation Committee on NCD for WHO, the findings are not new. That’s because 15 years ago, he had described NCDs as a “public health emergency in slow motion,” a phrase that the UN Secretary-General later used in 2011.
“That threat has grown since then as NCDs affect all countries, genders, social classes and all stages of life. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, severe morbidity and high mortality were associated with prior affliction with NCDs. We need a concerted global response, which uses policy instruments that have a population-wide impact on tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy foods and air pollution,” Dr Reddy said.
The expert also called for robust health system programmes that promote health, detect and control risk factors early and effectively, treat disease cost effectively and prevent untimely deaths. “NCDs need to be accorded higher priority in financial allocation and health system-strengthening initiatives with strong emphasis on primary care,” Dr Reddy said.
Dr V Mohan, noted diabetolog and Chairman of Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, Chennai, said diabetes is one of the commonest non-communicable diseases and reduction in risk factors will help not only prevent diabetes, but also hypertension, heart disease and several forms of cancers. “One in 28 deaths or two million a year are due to diabetes. As per the report, more than 95 per cent of diabetes cases globally are of Type 2 diabetes. Addressing major risk factors that lead to these diseases – tobacco use, unhealthy diet, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity and air pollution – could prevent or delay significant ill-health and a large number of deaths from many NCDs,” according to the report.
Key findings of the report also note that cancer causes one in six deaths – 9.3 million people a year – and as per the report, 44 per cent of cancer deaths could have been prevented or delayed eliminating risks to health. One in 13 deaths – 4.1 million people a year – is due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Findings of the report indicate that 70 per cent of chronic respiratory diseases deaths could have been prevented or delayed eliminating risks to health.
The report has also said that Covid-19 highlighted the links between NCDs and infectious disease, with serious impacts on NCD care. In the early months of the pandemic, 75 per cent of countries reported disruption to essential NCD services. During the Covid-19 pandemic, exposure to NCD risk factors changed. Public health measures such as lockdowns often led to less physical activity, and economic insecurity meant many people could not afford to eat a healthy diet.
The WHO report and data portal, according to experts, have come at a critical juncture for public health. In 2022, only a handful of countries are on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target to reduce early deaths from NCDS a third 2030. “The data paint a clear picture. The problem is that the world isn’t looking at it,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO. Most of these deaths are preventable addressing four key risk factors. If every country were to adopt the interventions that are known to work, at least 39 million deaths could be averted 2030, and countless other lives would be longer, healthier and happier, according to the report.