Chronic Disease Has Surpassed Infection as Global Issue

An increasing number of people in low- to middle-income countries are now dealing with chronic disease because of the aging of the global population, according to a report from the US Census Bureau (Washington DC, USA) and the World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva, Switzerland).

The Global Aging and Adult Health (SAGE) survey, which examined the health of people 50 and older who live in China, Russia, India, Mexico, South Africa, and Ghana, confirmed an earlier finding that chronic diseases such as hypertension and arthritis, once thought to be "diseases of affluence," are by far the leading cause of mortality in the world. The residents of the six countries surveyed, which are home to 42% of the world's 1.4 billion people who were 50 or older, were asked if they had ever been diagnosed with any of the following chronic conditions: Angina, Arthritis, Asthma, Cataracts, Chronic lung disease, Diabetes, Hypertension, or Stroke.

The results showed that hypertension was by far the most common health condition for people ages 50 to 69 in all the countries, except in India where arthritis was most common. For those who were 70 and older, hypertension was the leading chronic condition in China, South Africa, and Russia, where it is particularly severe, with 65.2% those 70 and older diagnosed with the condition. Not surprisingly, the number two most common chronic condition in Russia is angina (47.8%). Arthritis was overall the second most common chronic condition among those ages 50 to 69 and those 70 and older in the six countries, and was extremely common in Russia, South Africa, and China.

Among the six countries, India had the lowest mean health score for both sexes combined (54.1 on a scale of 0 to 100) and China had the highest (68.1). China also had the lowest percentage of disabilities. In every country except China, more than three-quarters of the over-50 populations had at least one disability. India and Russia had the highest rates, with nine in 10 people over 50 in those countries suffering from a disability. The report also calculated the number of healthy years, free from disability that a person in each of the countries could expect to live. Mexico is first at 67 years, followed by China with 66, Russia with 60, India with 56, Ghana with 50, and South Africa with 48.

“This report illustrates a disturbing transition occurring in these and other low- and middle-income countries,” said Richard Suzman, PhD, director of the US Census Bureau's National Institute of Aging's division of behavioral and social research. “Understanding differences in the health of older populations across and within countries is critical for planning healthcare services and social support systems, and for designing population health policies.”

The world’s population is aging, primarily as a function of declining fertility, coupled with increasing life expectancy. Aging is occurring not only in high-income countries but in middle- and low-income countries as well; moreover, the speed of aging in middle- and low-income countries will soon outpace that of the high-income countries. Although considerable attention has been paid to the aging of populations around the world, the vast majority of this attention and related research has focused on higher-income countries, despite the fact that about 65% of the world’s population 60 years and older lived in less developed countries in 2010, and this proportion is projected to be 80% by the year 2050.

Related Links:
US Census Bureau
World Health Organization