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20 Grand Challenges in Curbing World's Most Fatal Diseases - 1st Global Roadmap Consensus by Health Experts to Reduce Surging Toll

21 Nov 2007

A landmark global consensus on the 20 foremost measures needed to curb humanity's most fatal diseases, as agreed by the world's most eminent health scientists and organizations, is to be published in the latest version of the Nature magazine, a prestigious international weekly journal of science.

The most fatal diseases, known as Chronic, Non-Communicable Diseases (CNCDs), are defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as cardio-vascular disease, type 2 diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and certain cancers, are reaching world epidemic proportions.

In the past months, researchers applied structured consensus-building technique to distill informed opinions drawn from 155 expert panel members across 50 nations, to create the "Grand Challenges in CNCDs".

The result is an authoritative list of the 20 most important challenges today to restraining and reversing the toll of these slow killer illnesses.

The list was grouped into 6 broad goals by the 7-member Executive Committee and 19-member Scientific Board, who also suggested the key research requirements for reaching each goal.

Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a member of the Scientific Board. 

The 20 Grand Challenges, of equal precedence, are grouped under the 6 broad goals of:-

• Reorienting health systems;
• Mitigating health impacts of poverty and urbanization;
• Engaging businesses and community;
• Modifying risk factors;
• Enhancing economic, legal and environmental policies; and
• Raising public and political awareness.

Authors of the paper estimate that without concerted action, some 388 million people will die of one or more CNCDs in the next 10 years.  But with global concerted action, the number of premature deaths prevented by 2015 would total at least 36 million - a number that roughly equals to the population of Canada, Algeria or Kenya.

They say unless serious action is taken now, over the next decade China, India and the U.K. will lose an estimated US$558 billion, US$237 billion and US$33 billion respectively in foregone national income due to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Such diseases cause the greatest share of death and disability worldwide; and account for over 60% of deaths worldwide, four-fifths of those fatalities being citizens of low and middle income countries.

But these slow silent killers are largely preventable.  Researchers estimated that eliminating key risk factors (poor diet, physical inactivity, and smoking) would prevent 80% of heart disease, strokes and type 2 diabetes, and over 40% of cancer cases.

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