Hypertension, diabetes, stroke: they kill more people than infectious diseases and should get a Global Fund

Noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular conditions account for 41 million deaths each year. That’s more than 70% of all deaths globally. Most of these deaths (77%) are in low-income and middle-income countries – including those in Africa.

 

These conditions are currently more prevalent than infectious diseases. Sixty-seven percent occur before the age of 40. Besides being the leading causes of death worldwide, noncommunicable diseases carry a huge cost to individuals. These also undermine workforce productivity and threaten economic prosperity.

 

Healthcare provision in much of Africa still relies on external donors. There’s insufficient funding to help low-income and middle-income countries control noncommunicable diseases. Most development assistance for health funding provided by international donors is allocated for infectious diseases and maternal and child health. In 2019, funding for HIV amounted to US$9.5 billion. The amount allocated to noncommunicable diseases was US$0.7 billion.

 

Evidence suggests that addressing the noncommunicable disease pandemic can also mitigate other challenges like HIV, tuberculosis (TB), maternal and child health, and universal health coverage.