1. Each year, non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
cause more than 36 million deaths worldwide,
representing around 63 per cent of all mortality. Four
categories of NCDs are responsible for more than 80
percent of NCD deaths globally: cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. Exposures to risk factors that accumulate over the
life course such as tobacco use, unhealthy diets,
physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol increase
the risk of morbidity and mortality due to NCDs. The
World Health Organization estimates that over 20
million deaths could be prevented each year by reducing
the level of exposure to these modifiable risk factors. 1