W.H.O. warns spread of hy blood pressure and diabetes

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The United Nations data showed one in three adults worldwide has raised

blood pressure - the cause of around half of all deaths from stroke and

heart disease - and the condition affects almost half the adult population

in some countries in Africa.

In its annual report on global health, the Geneva-based World Health

Organization (WHO) also said one in 10 adults worldwide has diabetes, an

illness that costs billions of dollars to treat and puts sufferers at risk

of heart disease, kidney failure and blindness.

While the average global prevalence of diabetes is around 10 percent, the

report said, up to a third of the population in some Pacific Island

countries have the condition. Chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease

and cancer are often thought of as illnesses which primarily affect people

in wealthy nations, where high fat diets, alcohol consumption and smoking

are major health risks. But the WHO says almost 80 percent of deaths from

such diseases now occur in low- and middle-income countries.

In Africa, rising smoking rates, a shift towards Western- style diets and

less exercise mean chronic or so-called non-communicable diseases are rising

rapidly and are expected to surpass other diseases as the most common

killers by 2020.

" This report is further evidence of the dramatic increase in the conditions

that trigger heart disease and other chronic illnesses, particularly in low-

and middle-income countries, " the WHO's director general Margaret Chan said

in a statement with the report.

" In some African countries, as much as half the adult population has high

blood pressure. "

This year's WHO statistical report was the first to include data from all

194 member countries on the percentage of men and women with high blood

pressure, or hypertension, and with raised blood sugar levels, a symptom of

diabetes.

This report does not examine the causes behind the rising or falling

numbers, but seeks to give a snapshot of major diseases and health risks

affecting the global population.

In wealthy countries, widespread diagnosis and treatment with low-cost drugs

have significantly reduced average blood pressure readings across

populations - and this has contributed to a reduction in deaths from heart

disease, the WHO said. But in Africa, more than 40 percent -- and in some

places up to 50 percent - of adults in many countries are estimated to have

high blood pressure.

Most of these people remain undiagnosed, the report said, and yet many could

be treated with inexpensive medicines - an intervention that would cut the

risk of death and disability from heart disease and stroke. Obesity is

another major issue, the WHO said, with data showing rates of obesity

doubling in every region of the world between 1980 and 2008.

Ties Boerma, the WHO's director of health Statistics and information

systems, said, " Today, half a billion people - or 12 percent of the world's

population - are considered obese. "

The highest obesity levels are in the Americas, where 26 percent of adults

are obese, and the lowest are in south-east Asia, at 3 percent of adults.

The report found that women in all parts of the world are more likely to be

obese than men, and are therefore at greater risk of diabetes, heart disease

and some cancers.

Other key trends identified in the report include:

* Maternal deaths: In 20 years, the number of maternal deaths has

dropped from more than 540,000 in 1990 to less than 290,000 in 2010 - a

decline of 47 percent. A third of these deaths were in just two countries -

India with 20 percent of the global total, and Nigeria with 14 percent.

* Child deaths: Data from 2000 to 2010 show the world has made

significant progress in reducing child deaths, cutting them from almost 10

million under-fives in 2000 to 7.6 million in 2010. Falls in numbers of

deaths from diarrheal disease and measles have been particularly striking,

the WHO said.

* Death registration: Only 34 countries - representing 15 percent of

the world's population - produce high-quality cause-of-death data. In low

and middle-income countries, fewer than 10 percent of deaths are registered.

The WHO's World Health Statistics report is published annually and contains

data from 194 countries on a range of health indicators including life

expectancy, illnesses and deaths from various diseases, health services,

treatments, and risk factors or behaviors that affect health.