More Reasons to Address NCDs?

One of the suggestions from the GBD study is for countries to consider further investment in cardiovascular disease surveillance and population-based registries to benchmark their efforts towards reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease. In a related editorial comment, Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, FACC, agrees, describing a shift in the noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) plaguing the global population. “These findings confirm that the epidemiologic ‘transition’ away from infectious and maternal-child diseases and toward noncommunicable chronic diseases has already occurred globally — a sobering reality as countries around the world consider their priorities for health care, public health prevention, and economic growth,” he writes. Moving forward, he suggests the implementation of policies targeting lifestyle behaviors, particularly smoking, suboptimal diet and physical inactivity.

As a member of the World Heart Federation and NCD Alliance, the ACC is working with other medical societies around the world to support the “25 by 25” target, as well as corresponding NCD targets focused on high blood pressure, smoking cessation, diabetes, obesity and reliable access to medicines. Thomas A.Gaziano, MD, FACC, and John Gordon Harold, MD, MACC, recently represented the ACC in Geneva, Switzerland, at the 70th session of the World Health Assembly where NCDs were a focus of discussions. Read their accounts of the meeting at ACC.org/International.