Global trends in risk factors for non-communicable diseases

Abstract

The Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC) is a global network of health scientists that provides data on risk factors for NCDs in 200 countries and territories. Working closely with the World Health Organization, NCD-RisC pools high-quality population-based data using advanced statistical methods, designed specifically for analyzing NCD risk factors. NCD-RisC's series of worldwide inventories aims to identify risk factors for NCDs like cardiovascular disease, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke. It currently has data from over 2,545 population-based surveys from 193 countries since 1957, including the risk factor levels of nearly 129 million participants. The four risk factors it has singled out are: • height; • body-mass index; • blood pressure; • diabetes. This brief reports on key findings, as presented in a series of publications in eLife, the International Journal of Epidemiology and The Lancet. In general, it can be concluded that risk factors for non-communicable disease are increasing in most part of the world, particularly in Africa. This brief shares the findings from a series of worldwide inventories conducted with the aim of mapping non-communicable diseases. NCD-RisC has collected and analysed data from over 2,545 population-based studies in almost 200 countries, including data delivered by the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD) and PharmAccess.