Alcohol, smoking, poor lifestyles cause up to 36 million deaths worldwide

Letter to the Editor,

“Noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide,” said Douglas Bettcher, one of the leaders of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the last report about death causes in the world.

According to the document, these diseases cause 36 million deaths per year, or 63 percent of all deaths worldwide. Of these 36 million people, 9 million did not reach the age of 60.

The main factors contributing to these deaths are alcohol, lack of exercise, poor diet and smoking, Bettcher said. The deaths occur primarily in developed countries, but are also increasing in poor countries.

Noncommunicable diseases caused specifically 91 percent of deaths, as reflected in that report.

Of these deaths, 33 percent were attributed to cardiovascular disease, 27 percent to cancer, 9 percent  to respiratory diseases, 5 percent to perinatal conditions, 3 percent to diabetes, 4 percent to accidents and the remaining 19 percent to other noncommunicable diseases, according to this report, which covers all 193 WHO member countries.

Leanne Riley, head of WHO’s Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, said the predominance of these diseases, which are the leading cause of death in the world, is due to changes in lifestyle.

Regarding physical activity, the report notes that 52.1 percent of the population does not perform any physical activity, a percentage that is higher among women (56.3 percent) than among men (47.7 percent).

More alarming are the figures about the overweight, which affects 62 percent of the population, reaching 67 percent among men and 56 percent among women.

In Latin America, 69 percent of deaths are attributed to noncommunicable diseases, such as cardiovascular or respiratory diseases, although the percentage changes were significant depending of the economic and health development of each country. The ranking is: Uruguay (87 percent), Cuba (84 percent), Chile (83 percent), Costa Rica (81 percent ), Argentina (80 percent), Mexico (78 percent), Brazil (74 percent), Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Paraguay (69 percent), Dominican Republic (68 percent), El Salvador (67 percent), Colombia and Venezuela (66 percent, Ecuador (65 percent), Peru (60 percent), Bolivia and Guatemala (57 percent).

In view of these data, it can be concluded that the best prevention against these diseases is a healthy lifestyle, including physical exercise, a balanced diet and family socializing, instead of watching television.

— Clemente Ferrer 

For a Healthier World