Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), suchas cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus andchronic respiratory diseases generate a heavy burden in theLatin America and the Caribbean region. Cardiovasculardiseases (CVDs) cause nearly a third of all deaths, whilemalignant and other neoplasms cause one in six. Althoughthere are large variations across countries, some face aheavy double burden of disease as communicable diseases,maternal, perinatal, and nutritional conditions remainimportant causes of death and disability. In addition,injuries, particularly intentional, add to the burden. Theburden of NCDs is increasing and consequently the pressureon regional health systems is growing. In this context,treatment alone will not be fiscally sustainable as the costof treating NCDs in general is much higher than that ofcommunicable diseases (World Bank 2011). Thus the urgentneeds to promote healthy living in the region throughpopulation-wide multi-sectoral interventions to improvenutrition, promote physical activity, and reduce tobacco useand alcohol abuse. The role of the health sector is centralto ensuring that multi-sectoral interventions to promotehealthy lifestyles are designed and implemented along withtargeted health care services. Also crucial is surveillanceof NCDs and their risk factors. This function needs to bestrengthened to improve information on the prevalence ofNCDs and their risk factors and to respond adequately to the epidemic.
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