WHO official: Non-communicable diseases exacerbate and perpetuate poverty

An official from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday said non-communicable diseases (NCDs) exacerbate and perpetuate poverty.

During a two-day media conference hosted by WHO in Manila, Xi Yin, from the NCD Prevention and Health Promotion Division of Healthy Environments and Populations at the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, noted that globally, the economic cost of smoking—including direct healthcare costs and productivity losses—is about $1.4 trillion per year.

"NCDs exacerbate and perpetuate poverty. Imagine if you are a mother of a family from a lower-income household, right? So, when a person in your family has NCDs, say diabetes, you have to worry about the cost of medical care, and you have to worry about maybe you or your husband incurring some loss of productivity because you cannot actively participate in the workforce anymore, therefore losing your earning," Yin said.

"And then your children may drop out of school to take care of or pay for a sick family member. And caregivers, usually women and girls, may give up their opportunities and suffer from stress. So, this is just me scratching the very surface of this problem," she added.

According to WHO, almost three-fourths of all deaths worldwide are caused by NCDs. One in three deaths is due to cardiovascular diseases, cancers account for one in six deaths, chronic respiratory diseases cause one in 13 deaths, and diabetes accounts for one in 28 deaths.

To reduce premature mortality from NCDs by one-third by 2030, Yin emphasized the need to reduce alcohol and tobacco use, adopt healthier diets, and increase physical activity.

"We know when alcohol consumption goes up, life expectancy goes down. Particularly in Russia, we see that relationship really clearly," Yin pointed out.

She also highlighted a nearly 20 percent decrease in tobacco use in the Philippines from 2008 to 2021, attributing it to the Sin Tax law, which increased taxes on tobacco products to discourage smoking and promote cessation, as well as the tobacco advertising ban at the local level.

"We have to keep implementing effective tobacco control measures. That's why it's important. We have to sustain the efforts to keep the rate down," she added.

According to the WHO official, tobacco causes nine million deaths annually, while alcohol is responsible for three million deaths each year.