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<DIV><SPAN class=MainText_module_italic><SPAN
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<DIV><FONT size=2>Chronic Diseases Beleaguer Developing Countries</DIV>
<DIV>
<P>by Heidi Worley</P>
<P>(January 2006) Developing countries are undergoing a rapid epidemiological
transition—from infectious diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia to chronic
ones such as heart disease—that threatens to overwhelm their strapped health
systems and cripple their fragile economies.</P>
<P>Of the top four causes of death worldwide, three—cardiovascular disease
(CVD), cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases—are associated with chronic
disease. Almost three times as many people die annually from CVD (which includes
heart disease and stroke) as from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. And
CVD, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, and diabetes made up 60 percent of
the 58 million annual worldwide deaths estimated for 2005—with more than
three-quarters of these deaths occurring in developing countries.</P>
<P>In October 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a
report—<I>Preventing Chronic Disease: A Vital Investment—</I>to raise awareness
about this largely invisible epidemic in developing countries and to issue a
call to action for national governments, international organizations, civil
society, and the private sector. WHO proposes a new global goal: to reduce the
projected trend of chronic-disease death rates by 2 percent each year until
2015. Such a reduction would prevent 36 million people from dying of chronic
disease in the next 10 years, most of them in middle- and low-income
countries.</P>
<P>Prevention of chronic disease is key to meeting this goal. Yet without urgent
attention to the scope of the problem, developing-country governments will not
be able to bolster health system resources nor shift the focus of their health
services adequately. Although some effective prevention programs have shown
success in developed countries (particularly in tobacco control and education),
caution must guide application to other settings.</P></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2>Full Text:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2><A
href="http://www.prb.org/Template.cfm?Section=PRB&template=/Content/ContentGroups/06_Articles/Chronic_Diseases_Beleaguer_Developing_Countries.htm">http://www.prb.org/Template.cfm?Section=PRB&template=/Content/ContentGroups/06_Articles/Chronic_Diseases_Beleaguer_Developing_Countries.htm</A></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
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