Global Challenge: Non-Communicable Diseases

Global Challenge: Non-Communicable Diseases 1
GLOBAL CHALLENGE: NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
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Global Challenge: Non-Communicable Diseases 2
Global Challenge: Non-Communicable Diseases
Introduction
The budding of prevalence along with the incidence of “prosperity diseases” amongst the
wide layers of contemporary populations is somehow new phenomenon in demographic history
of civilization. For many decades, communicable diseases were the primary causes of mortalities
in many nations across the world. The life expectancy was often restricted by unmanaged
pandemics. Following the conclusion of the World War II, with growing medical research
attainments in regard to antibiotics, vaccination, and enhancement of quality of life, non-
communicable diseases (NCDs) has started causing main problems in low-income nations across
the world (Gruskin, Ferguson, Tarantola & Beaglehole, 2014, pp. 773). Non-communicable
diseases are increasingly becoming more prevalent in developing nations in which they double
the burden of infectious diseases. Cancer, heart diseases, chronic pulmonary, diabetes, as well as
mental illnesses has become a major burden for low-income nations or developing nations across
the world. For a while, the NCDs were linked to economic development and so-called diseases
of the wealthy in the society (WHO, 2014, pp. 45). However, since the daybreak of the 3rd
millennium, non-communicable diseases have swept the whole world, with a growing trend in
low-income economies, in which the transition have more restraints to handle the double burden
of infectious in addition to non-infectious diseases in deprived environment that is characterizes
by ill-health processes. It is forecasted that by 2020, non-communicable diseases will account for
nearly 80% of the global burden of the disease, which will cause seven out of 10 deaths in low-
income nations, compared with less than half nowadays (Jakovljevic, 2014, pp. 140).

Global Challenge: Non-Communicable Diseases 3
Thus, if the current trend continues regarding the spread of NCDs, the healthcare systems
in low-income nations will be unable to support the burden of these diseases. Therefore, effective
and urgent strategies and measures are required to be undertaken to manage the risk factors like
obesity, smoking cigarettes, high blood pressure, diet and inactivity. The costly plus extended
treatment of non-communicable diseases raises the equity challenge between and within nations
(Namusisi et al., 2011, pp. 47). Hence successful prevention and management of the epidemic
NCDs cannot be attained by health sector only, but need a broad range of interventions from
organizations and government. The paper will investigate the burden of NCDs in low-income
nations, the changing burden of NCDs, global challenge of NCDs, and current and future
threats .
Challenges of Non-Communicable Disease
Developing nations defined as low-income plus lower-middle-income nations-are
experiencing a double burden of illness. Whilst they continue the battle against infectious
diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, they are more and more failing prey to the
growing tide of NCDs. Non-communicable diseases accounts for more than half of the general
burden of illnesses in lower-middle-income nations, as well as close to one-third in low-income
nations. The facts demonstrates that, in absolute terms, this NCDs burden amplified by around
30 percent in 2000-2015 and affects individuals at a tender age than high-income nations,
worsening social plus economic costs in these countries. Cardiovascular diseases have been cited
as the primary contributor to the increase in these costs (Mendis & Chestnov, 2014, pp. 131).
Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Low-Income Countries

Global Challenge: Non-Communicable Diseases 4
NCDs in low-income nations around the world will no longer be disregarded or
perceived as a disruption from the business of deterrence along with the control of infectious
illness. The case has been stressed in the latest reports explaining the global burden in regard to
death, and disability-adjusted life years and too their economic effect. Until lately,
communicable diseases have been practically the only precedence for universal health policy.
Nonetheless, they do not represent the primary supplier to the burden of the illness based on the
disability-adjusted life years or death in any part of the globe at a distance from sub-Saharan
Africa. NCDs cause over half of mortalities in adults amid 15 and 59 years in all parts of the
world apart from the South Asia and sub-Saharan, in which infectious disease conditions,
comprising HIV/AIDS, lead to one-thirds of mortalities, correspondingly (WHO, 2014, pp. 47).
Demographic plus epidemiological changes are moving the disease burden from
communicable to NCDs in lower-income nations. Thus, the combination of demographic, as well
as epidemiological transformations is generating rapid shifts in the disease profile of several low-
income countries. Diabetes, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, along
with other communicable diseases is on the increase in low-income nations. This is have been
attributed to the growing prevalence of key modifiable behavioural risks, like unhealthy diets,
as well as tobacco use, plus declines in the infectious diseases, which suspiciously result in the
deaths of children and adolescents (Terzic & Waldman, 2011, pp. 225). Similarly, the ageing
populace and growth increases the pace of the change from communicable, maternal, neonatal,
as well as nutritional diseases to NCDs. Several poor nations, like Botswana and Bangladesh are
encountering major declines in terms of fertility rates. Consequently, between 1980 and 2015,
the median age in these nations moved from 17 to 26 years and from 17 to 24 correspondingly.