The Global Burden of Disease Study and the Preventable Burden of NCD

Abstract

Noncommunicable diseases (NCD) now account for more than one-half of the global burden of disease. Cardiovascular diseases account for about one-half of NCD deaths, and the majority of cardiovascular disease deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. The GBD (Global Burden of Disease) study measures and benchmarks health loss from death or disability from more than 300 diseases in over 100 countries. According to GBD analyses, the rise of NCD is in part due to increased life expectancy due to reduced premature mortality from communicable, child, and maternal illnesses, but preventable risk factors also contribute and present targets for NCD control efforts. In addition to traditional NCD risk factors, like tobacco smoking, high blood pressure, and unhealthful diet, nontraditional risk factors like air pollution and unhealthful alcohol consumption also play a role. The GBD study continues to grow by gathering more data from country partners than ever before, and by measuring health at the national and subnational levels and in smaller time increments. The GBD study will continue to provide the data to set priorities for and measure progress in the global effort to control the rising burden of NCD.

Effect of copayment policies on initial medication non-adherence according to income: a population-based study

“…This might have increased healthcare access inequities although lack of statistical significance on the impact of IMNA in high-income populations may be due to small sample size. Furthermore, the effect is more pronounced in medications with a high impact on health-related quality of life in the short term (analgesics) and long term (medications for chronic physical conditions) 27. In the medium term, IMNA to these treatments is associated with increased costs, mainly due to higher sick leave costs,17 18 and may also be related to higher long-term costs 28.…”

Standardizing food composition tables, reflecting sugar, trans fat, saturated fat and salt contents

“…Food composition data contribute to improvement in nutrition surveillance systems, which, in turn, help to inform policy. Food composition data in the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is often incomplete, outdated or unreliable, and some countries have no food composition data (1,2). As the burden of diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) grows rapidly in the Region (1,2), it is particularly important to have data on the levels of sugar, fats (including saturated and trans fatty acids) and salt in foods.…”

Flying by the seat of their pants: A grounded theory of school nurse case management

“…School nurses provide increasingly complex care to school‐aged children. They contribute to reducing the global burden of chronic disease (Benziger, Roth, & Moran, ). In the United States (US), close to 10 million children have health conditions that require regular prescription medication (Bloom, Jones, & Freeman, ).…”