Investing 1 dollar per person per year could save 7 million lives in low and lower-middle income countries

A new World Health Organization report shows that close to seven million deaths could be prevented by 2030, if low and lower-middle income countries were to make an additional investment of less than a dollar per person per year in the prevention and treatment of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

NCDs – which include heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and respiratory disease – currently cause seven out of every ten deaths around the world.

Yet their impact on lower income countries is often underestimated, despite the fact that 85% of premature deaths (between ages 30-69) from NCDs occur in low- and middle-income countries, making them a huge health and socioeconomic burden.