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WiRED International Fights Noncommunicable Diseases with Education

BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW; EDITED BY BERNICE BORN

hat is the biggest health challenge on the globe today?

It is clearly the threat of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) according to Shanthi Mendis, M.D., the World Health Organization’s coordinator for chronic diseases prevention and management.

NCDs take 16 million lives a year from heart and lung diseases, stroke, cancer and diabetes, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report.

Dr. Mendis said, “It’s a slow-motion public health disaster, seemingly invisible and rapidly gathering speed. The important thing to remember is it’s not just killing a couple of thousands of people; it’s killing millions, and it's going to kill millions for decades.”

The majority of deaths worldwide are due to NCDs.—not infectious diseases such as flu and Ebola that capture more immediate media attention. The WHO report states further that most NCD deaths of people before age 70 are preventable: “Of the 38 million lives lost to NCDs in 2012, 16 million or 42% were premature and avoidable—up from 14.6 million in 2000.”

The WHO report cites lifestyle and prevention as keys to addressing NCD problems and suggests “best buys” to reduce the burden.

WHO recommends “best buy” or cost-effective, high-impact interventions, including:

• Banning all forms of tobacco advertising
• Replacing trans fats with polyunsaturated fats
• Restricting or banning alcohol advertising
• Preventing heart attacks and strokes
• Promoting breastfeeding
• Implementing public awareness programs on diet and physical activity
• Preventing cervical cancer through screening

Personal interventions that change lifestyle practices for ourselves and our families are key to preventing NCDs and ensuring a healthier future. The WHO emphasizes that the number of NCD deaths can be significantly decreased if people reduce tobacco use, stop harmful use of alcohol, eat healthy diets and increase physical activity. The good news is that people can prevent NCDs by learning about the behaviors that can lead to them, identifying risk factors and adopting healthy habits.

WiRED International believes that individuals and communities that understand even the basics of NCDs can make vast improvements in health outcomes. To that end we offer a number of modules on NCDs—some in a whole series—in our Community Health Education e-library. The modules cover heart disease, cancers, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and more. With these interactive training tools, communities and medical professionals alike can educate themselves through the material which is released on this website and which is also distributed on portable media for communities off the grid.

WiRED International seeks to motivate isolated communities to take their health into their own hands. Health education saves countless lives.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/ncd

The majority of deaths worldwide are due to NCDs. These deaths worldwide now exceed all communicable, maternal and perinatal nutrition-related deaths combined and represent an emerging global health threat. Cardiovascular disease – 25% Cancer – 12% Injury – 11% Chronic Respiratory Disease – 8% Diabetes – 5% Other – 8%

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