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Chronic conditions such as heart disease and stroke are now the biggest killers worldwide, signifying the shift of global disease burden away from communicable diseases, the World Health Organization said in its annual international health statistics report.
The WHO added that of the eight leading causes of death worldwide, tobacco use contributes to six. It noted that only 5% of the world's population is covered by any one measure to control tobacco use.
The report on the 193 WHO-member countries indicated that three diseases—ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—will constitute 34.9% of deaths worldwide by 2030, up from 27% in 2004. By comparison, the top three communicable diseases of today—lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and HIV/AIDS—will constitute just 6.5% of deaths worldwide in 2030, down from 14.1% today.
“We are definitely seeing a trend towards fewer people dying of infectious diseases across the world,” Dr. Ties Boerma, director of the WHO's Department of Health Statistics and Informatics, said in a written statement. “We tend to associate developing countries with infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. But in more and more countries the chief causes of death are noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease and stroke.”
Among the chronic or behavior-related diseases on the increase around the world will be trachea, bronchus, and lung cancers, representing 3.4% of deaths in 2030 compared with 2.3% in 2004; diabetes, representing 3.3% of deaths in 2030 compared with 1.9% in 2004; and hypertensive heart disease, representing 2.1% of deaths in 2030 compared with 1.7% in 2004, according to the WHO.
The WHO said road traffic accidents are expected to increase also, to 3.6% of deaths in 2030 from 2.2% of deaths in 2004.
Other findings:
▸ Maternal mortality rates. In 2005 rates were 400 deaths for every 100,000 live births; rates were 450 in developing countries and 900 in sub-Saharan Africa.
▸ Decreasing HIV/AIDS prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. Rates dropped from 6% of the population in 2000 to 5% in 2007.
▸ Differences in life expectancy in Europe. In northern, southern, and western Europe, the life expectancy at birth was 78.6 for both sexes in 2005, an increase since 1950 of 15 years in southern Europe, 11 years in western Europe, and 9 years in northern Europe. In Eastern Europe, the life expectancy advanced less than 4 years over the same period, from 64.2 years in 1950 to 67.8 years in 2005.
Chronic conditions such as heart disease and stroke are now the biggest killers worldwide, signifying the shift of global disease burden away from communicable diseases, the World Health Organization said in its annual international health statistics report.
The WHO added that of the eight leading causes of death worldwide, tobacco use contributes to six. It noted that only 5% of the world's population is covered by any one measure to control tobacco use.
The report on the 193 WHO-member countries indicated that three diseases—ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—will constitute 34.9% of deaths worldwide by 2030, up from 27% in 2004. By comparison, the top three communicable diseases of today—lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and HIV/AIDS—will constitute just 6.5% of deaths worldwide in 2030, down from 14.1% today.
“We are definitely seeing a trend towards fewer people dying of infectious diseases across the world,” Dr. Ties Boerma, director of the WHO's Department of Health Statistics and Informatics, said in a written statement. “We tend to associate developing countries with infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. But in more and more countries the chief causes of death are noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease and stroke.”
Among the chronic or behavior-related diseases on the increase around the world will be trachea, bronchus, and lung cancers, representing 3.4% of deaths in 2030 compared with 2.3% in 2004; diabetes, representing 3.3% of deaths in 2030 compared with 1.9% in 2004; and hypertensive heart disease, representing 2.1% of deaths in 2030 compared with 1.7% in 2004, according to the WHO.
The WHO said road traffic accidents are expected to increase also, to 3.6% of deaths in 2030 from 2.2% of deaths in 2004.
Other findings:
▸ Maternal mortality rates. In 2005 rates were 400 deaths for every 100,000 live births; rates were 450 in developing countries and 900 in sub-Saharan Africa.
▸ Decreasing HIV/AIDS prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. Rates dropped from 6% of the population in 2000 to 5% in 2007.
▸ Differences in life expectancy in Europe. In northern, southern, and western Europe, the life expectancy at birth was 78.6 for both sexes in 2005, an increase since 1950 of 15 years in southern Europe, 11 years in western Europe, and 9 years in northern Europe. In Eastern Europe, the life expectancy advanced less than 4 years over the same period, from 64.2 years in 1950 to 67.8 years in 2005.
Chronic conditions such as heart disease and stroke are now the biggest killers worldwide, signifying the shift of global disease burden away from communicable diseases, the World Health Organization said in its annual international health statistics report.
The WHO added that of the eight leading causes of death worldwide, tobacco use contributes to six. It noted that only 5% of the world's population is covered by any one measure to control tobacco use.
The report on the 193 WHO-member countries indicated that three diseases—ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—will constitute 34.9% of deaths worldwide by 2030, up from 27% in 2004. By comparison, the top three communicable diseases of today—lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and HIV/AIDS—will constitute just 6.5% of deaths worldwide in 2030, down from 14.1% today.
“We are definitely seeing a trend towards fewer people dying of infectious diseases across the world,” Dr. Ties Boerma, director of the WHO's Department of Health Statistics and Informatics, said in a written statement. “We tend to associate developing countries with infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. But in more and more countries the chief causes of death are noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease and stroke.”
Among the chronic or behavior-related diseases on the increase around the world will be trachea, bronchus, and lung cancers, representing 3.4% of deaths in 2030 compared with 2.3% in 2004; diabetes, representing 3.3% of deaths in 2030 compared with 1.9% in 2004; and hypertensive heart disease, representing 2.1% of deaths in 2030 compared with 1.7% in 2004, according to the WHO.
The WHO said road traffic accidents are expected to increase also, to 3.6% of deaths in 2030 from 2.2% of deaths in 2004.
Other findings:
▸ Maternal mortality rates. In 2005 rates were 400 deaths for every 100,000 live births; rates were 450 in developing countries and 900 in sub-Saharan Africa.
▸ Decreasing HIV/AIDS prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. Rates dropped from 6% of the population in 2000 to 5% in 2007.
▸ Differences in life expectancy in Europe. In northern, southern, and western Europe, the life expectancy at birth was 78.6 for both sexes in 2005, an increase since 1950 of 15 years in southern Europe, 11 years in western Europe, and 9 years in northern Europe. In Eastern Europe, the life expectancy advanced less than 4 years over the same period, from 64.2 years in 1950 to 67.8 years in 2005.