According to WHO forecasts, more people in developing countries will die from diabetes or heart attacks than from infectious diseases by 2030. The global increase in chronic or non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represents an enormous strain on and challenge for many countries whose healthcare systems are primarily focused on controlling infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Particularly in low-income regions, the costs of NCDs are becoming a major financial challenge for the people affected and for the national economies.

This issue of Development in Brief deals with non-communicable diseases and their growing significance in developing countries. The article points out the health and economic consequences of these diseases and what measures need to be taken to effectively minimise their impact on people and the system and to prevent them in the first place.

Diabetes and heart disease – the next pandemic in developing countries?