• Majid Ezzati, Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, James E Bennett, and Colin D Mathers.
• Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK. majid.ezzati@imperial.ac.uk.
• Nature. 2018 Jul 1; 559 (7715): 507-516.

AbstractThe classical portrayal of poor health in tropical countries is one of infections and parasites, contrasting with wealthy Western countries, where unhealthy diet and behaviours cause non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease and cancer. Using international mortality data, we show that most NCDs cause more deaths at every age in low- and middle-income tropical countries than in high-income Western countries. Causes of NCDs in low- and middle-income countries include poor nutrition and living environment, infections, insufficient taxation and regulation of tobacco and alcohol, and under-resourced and inaccessible healthcare. We identify a comprehensive set of actions across health, social, economic and environmental sectors that could confront NCDs in low- and middle-income tropical countries and reduce global health inequalities.

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