Global burden of non-communicable diseases will rise

Significance

In the same period, the share of deaths from communicable (or infectious) diseases has fallen from 30% to 23%. Yet there has been no corresponding shift in global development assistance for health, and policy initiatives to combat NCDs are minimal.

Impacts

• NCDs will slow global economic growth as chronic sufferers will have limited productive capacities in the workplace.
• Health infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries will be increasingly overwhelmed and overburdened.
• Their health workers will be forced to shift their focus from treating communicable to non-communicable diseases.