This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Noncommunicable diseases account for three-quarters of deaths worldwide but affect different population groups in different ways, a World Health Organization study showed Tuesday.

In its biggest-ever look at inequality in health and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), the WHO studied the top four killers—cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes.

It also looked at the five main risk factors driving them—tobacco use, alcohol consumption, obesity, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and air pollution.

The report then scanned this across differences in NCD burden, prevention and care—by age, gender, economic status, education, place of residence, disability status, employment and migration status.

"This is the first effort to systematically measure inequalities in NCDs and their risk factors on a global scale," said Ahmad Reza Hosseinpoor, who leads the WHO's health inequality monitoring team.

NCDs cover eight of the top 10 causes of death, with cardiovascular diseases the biggest killer by far, causing almost 20 million deaths a year.

The 10 years of national data, collected between 2013 and 2022, confirmed that socioeconomic status influences health at every stage—from initial exposure to risk factors, through to diagnosis, treatment and disease management.

For example, the report found that in low- and middle-income countries, less educated populations suffered higher rates of hypertension and diabetes.

Cervical cancer screening rates are very low among the poorest and least-educated women, while tobacco use remains higher among less-educated men than among more educated men.

Source link