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Chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease caused 45% of all deaths across Africa. That is according to new research out this week. Three decades ago, chronic disease accounted for only a quarter of deaths on the continent. As NPR's Fatma Tanis reports, it's a growing challenge for public health officials.
FATMA TANIS, BYLINE: Rwanda's government has been working hard for the past three decades to grow the economy and encourage people to move from rural areas to cities.
SABIN NSANZIMANA: Cities are growing, but they're coming up with health problems.
TANIS: That's doctor Sabin Nsanzimana, Rwanda's health minister. Government data shows doubling rates of obesity and increasing cases of cancer.
NSANZIMANA: Lifestyle is changing. People are sitting long hours. And we now catching up to say, eat healthy, move more, don't drink too much alcohol, don't go into ultra processed food, sugar drinks are not good.
TANIS: Ten years ago, Rwanda's health officials were more focused on tackling infectious diseases like malaria and HIV. They still pose risks. Ali Mokdad is a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington and one of the authors of the report that studied the burden of noncommunicable disease, which cannot be spread from one person to another.
ALI MOKDAD: That's a warning sign for us that we are shifting from infectious disease burden to noncommunicable disease burden at a time where we still haven't finished dealing with infectious disease in Africa.
TANIS: Mokdad and other researchers combed through data from 54 African countries.
MOKDAD: What's really surprising is still high blood pressure is very high. About 26% of the deaths is associated or caused by high blood pressure.
TANIS: Blood pressure can lead to heart disease. Diet and air pollution are also top-risk factors for chronic illness. Medication is available, Mokdad says, but there are other issues in the way.
MOKDAD: There is a problem with screening and early diagnosis of blood pressure.
TANIS: Gene Bukhman is with Harvard Medical School and was not part of the study. He says he's interested in more detailed analysis about health risks among people under the age of 30, which make up about 70% of Africa's population.
GENE BUKHMAN: This is a population that doesn't smoke as much as other regions. It's exposed to more infectious risks that can cause some of these conditions. And so the story is going to be very different.
TANIS: He hopes future reports will take that into account, too.
Fatma Tanis, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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