Non-Communicable Diseases: Causes, Prevalence, and Economic Costs

Running head: NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES 1
NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
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NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES 2
NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Noncommunicable diseases abbreviated as NCDs are diseases not directly transmitted
from one person to another. These types of conditions are primarily attributed to behavioral,
environmental, physiological or genetic factors. The world health organization identifies
diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, cancers and cardiovascular diseases as the main types of
Noncommunicable conditions. This discussion will centre on Noncommunicable diseases.
According to the World Health Organization, Noncommunicable diseases are among the
leading causes of death globally. In particular, this category of conditions is responsible for the
death of 41 million people each year, representing 71% of all deaths. Out of these deaths, 32
million occur in middle and low-income countries. Additionally, cardiovascular diseases are the
leading cause of death among the main four types of Non-communicable conditions, accounting
for 17.9 million deaths annually. On the same note, deaths associated with cancers account for 9
million annual deaths, while diabetes and respiratory diseases account for 1.6 million and 3.9
million deaths respectively (WHO, 2019).
The noncommunicable diseases may affect people from any group, country or region.
This means that noncommunicable conditions are not a preserve for any category of
people.However, a large number of people majorly associate noncommunicable diseases with the
elderly population (Lee et al., 2012). The available evidence, however, contradicts this
assumption. In particular, 15 million annual deaths attributed to noncommunicable diseases
occur between people aged between 30 and 69 years (WHO, 2019). Risk factors for
noncommunicable diseases include harmful use of tobacco, exposure to tobacco smoke, lack of
physical activity or unhealthy diets. All categories of people including the elderly, children and
adults, are at risk of acquiring noncommunicable diseases. The prevalence of the