NONCOMMUNICABLE
DISEASES

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Noncommunicable diseases – heart attacks, strokes, cancers, diabetes and chronic lung diseases – cause almost 70% of all deaths worldwide. Five major risk factors drive noncommunicable diseases: tobacco use, unhealthy diets, insufficient physical activity, air pollution and harmful use of alcohol.

Many premature deaths can be avoided through simple, cost-effective, high-impact interventions, but these are not being implemented and scaled up sufficiently in the majority of countries.

key achievements

Today, the majority of countries are seeking ways to implement WHO’s “best buys” and other recommended interventions to address the complex and interconnected challenges of noncommunicable diseases, mental health, disability, violence, injuries, substance abuse, food safety and zoonoses.

More than 100 countries were provided with technical assistance from WHO to refine and implement signature solutions (technical packages), with differentiated, evidence-based, tailored approaches for each; these included REPLACE, HEARTS, PENS, MPOWER and ACTIVE.

NEW MULTISTAKEHOLDER GLOBAL INITIATIVES

To enhance multistakeholder partnerships, the WHO Director-General launched a number of special global initiatives in 2018 and 2019 in close collaboration with stakeholders. These initiatives focused on mental health, heart disease, eliminating cervical cancer, childhood cancer and eliminating industrially produced trans-fat from the global food supply.

Political momentum increased during the biennium following the third High-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, at which world leaders committed to implement a series of WHO-recommended policies.

REACHING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

More than one in 20 deaths – 3 million people, mostly men – were caused by the harmful use of alcohol in 2016. Evidence-based policy interventions may reduce the burden of illness and death from noncommunicable diseases and could be a game-changer to achieve targets.

About two-thirds of the global population – are now covered by at least one measure under MPOWER, an initiative that promotes government action on six tobacco control measures.

The number of stunted people decreased from 166 million in 2012 to 149 million in 2018. These dramatic improvements highlight the positive effect of policy reform that integrated nutrition into social protection strategies.

With support from WHO, 15 national governments have stepped up services for childhood cancer with the aim of reaching at least a 60% survival rate by 2030.

With support from WHO, between 2014 and 2019, 22 additional countries amended their laws on speed, drink-driving and failing to use motorcycle helmets, seat belts and child restraints in order to prevent road traffic deaths, covering an additional 1 billion people or 14% of the world’s population.