According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 35 million people will die of chronic diseases in 2007. WHO proposes a new global goal to reduce the projected trend of chronic disease death rates by 2% each year until 2015. In its report, WHO said that the estimated 35 million deaths in 2006/07 would be double the number of deaths from all infectious diseases (including HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, heart disease and diabetes.), maternal and prenatal conditions, and nutritional deficiencies combined.

Approximately 16 million chronic disease deaths occur each year in people under 70. Without action to address the causes, deaths from chronic diseases will increase by 17% between 2005 and 2015. However, global action to prevent them could save the lives of 36 million people who would otherwise be dead by 2015. The report dispelled the common misunderstanding that chronic diseases can?t be prevented. It is said that, if risk factors associated with chronic diseases were eliminated at least 80% of all heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes as well as 40% of cancers would be prevented.

The report focuses on the major chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases (such as asthma) and diabetes. Visual impairment and blindness, hearing impairment and deafness, oral diseases and genetic disorders are other chronic conditions that account for substantial portion of the global burden of disease.

The causes of the main chronic disease epidemics are well established and well known. It is said that the most important modifiable risk factors are unhealthy diet and excessive energy intake, physical inactivity and tobacco use. Many more risk factors for chronic diseases have been identified such as harmful alcohol use. It has been estimated to cause 3% of global deaths and 4% of the global burden of disease, almost half of which is the result of unintentional and intentional injuries. Childhood obesity is associated with a higher chance of premature death and disability in adulthood. Approximately 22 million children under the age of five are obese.

According to the report, in the second half of the 20th century, the proportion of people in Africa, Asia and Latin America living in urban areas rose from 16% to 50%. Urbanization creates conditions in which people are exposed to new products, technologies, and marketing of unhealthy goods, and in which they adopt less physically active types of employment.

The total number of people aged 70 years or more worldwide is expected to increase from 269 million in 2000 to 1 billion in 2050. High-income countries will see their elderly population increase from 93 to 217 million over this period, while in low-and middle-income countries the increase will be 174 to 813 million?more than 466%.

<B>Ahmad MACKY</B>