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The World Health Organization (WHO) named noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) near the top of its list of ten threats to global health in 2019 — second only to air pollution and climate change.
WiRED International’s virtual Health Learning Center offers 400+ modules, free of charge, on topics relating to health and disease, many of which describe NCDs such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer and asthma.
NCDs are chronic diseases, not transmissible directly from one person to another. They tend to be of long duration resulting from a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioral factors.
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NCDs collectively are responsible for more than 71% of all deaths worldwide, or 41 million people. Cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths annually, followed by cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes.
What are the risk factors of such diseases? Tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy diets all increase the percentage of people dying from an NCD. Also, NCDs most affect vulnerable populations in low-resource communities with little access to health care, medical treatment or information about diseases and healthy practices.
WiRED’s mission is grounded in disease prevention and health promotion. Our programs educate underserved communities on how to avoid disease and how to lead healthy, productive lives.
You can download the modules mentioned in this story, and all 400+ of WiRED’s health modules, through WiRED’s Health Module Access Program (HealthMAP) by clicking here. This easy-to-use free program will enable you to create your own customized collection of health learning modules. You can learn more about HealthMAP through WiRED's animation.
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