NCD

March 18, 2013

NCDs: A 47 Trillion dollar Problem We Cant Ignore

By Nalini Saligram, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Arogya World

As Indian Americans, we have a lot to be proud of in our communities and in the changes underway in India.  Today, to protect our families and this remarkable progress, we must address one of the greatest health and development challenges of the century, the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs, including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and chronic lung diseases, have thus far escaped our attention and collective action.

  The Rising Threat of NCDs

  NCDs kill 2 out of 3 people today – six times as many as from HIV, TB and Malaria combined, making them the greatest threat to health and development that you’ve never heard of.  It’s a mistake to consider these diseases of affluence – 80% of the deaths are in developing countries, and NCDs hit the poorest of the poor the hardest. It’s true that India and other developing countries have raised standards of living and made great strides against many infectious diseases, but there is little time to celebrate: the recent Global Burden of Disease report from the World Health Organization established that while infectious disease is decreasing, the prevalence of NCDs is increasing rapidly around the world./.../