WHO: $1.20 a person could curb chronic diseases

Poorer countries could introduce measures to prevent and treat millions of cases of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and lung disease for a little as $1.20 per person per year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

In a study released on eve of the first United Nations high-level meeting on chronic, or non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the WHO said there are many cheap steps governments could take to stem a tide of expensive-to-treat, life-threatening diseases which could bankrupt health systems.

Non-communicable diseases -- such as heart attacks and strokes, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease -- account for more than 63 percent of all deaths worldwide, killing 36 million people a year.

The WHO predicts that the global NCD epidemic will accelerate in the next two decades so that by 2030 the number of deaths from these diseases could reach 52 million a year.

NCDs are often thought of as diseases of the wealthy world, where fatty foods, sedentary lifestyles and high consumption of tobacco and alcohol have become part of normal life for many.

But in recent decades such risk factors and illnesses have become far more prevalent in poorer nations, where access to doctors and medicines is limited, and knowledge on and commitment to prevention is patchy.

"Nearly 80 percent of these deaths (from NCDs) occur in low and middle income countries," said Ala Alwan, the WHO`s director for NCDs and mental health. "The challenge to these countries is tremendous, but this study proves that there are affordable steps all governments can take to address non-communicable diseases."

The WHO`s list of recommendations includes measures that target whole populations, such as excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol, legislating for smoke-free indoor workplaces and public places, as well as campaigns to reduce levels of salt and trans fats in foods, and public awareness programs about improving diets and increasing physical activity.

Other steps include screening, counseling and drugs for people at risk of heart disease, cervical cancer screening and hepatitis B immunization to prevent liver cancer.

The two-day UN meeting, starting on September 19 in New York, is the only second-ever such high-level meeting to be held on a threat to global health -- the first was a decade ago on HIV/AIDS -- and has been billed as a "once in a generation" chance to tackle the predicted wave of NCDs.

In a separate study released on Sunday, the World Economic Forum said the global economic impact of the five leading NCDs -- cancer, diabetes, mental illness, heart disease, and respiratory disease -- could reach $47 trillion in the next 20 years if nothing is done to prevent them.

Alwan said the WHO`s recommendations would "help countries with limited resources work out what the `best buys` are and what they will cost."

"Implementing them would save literally millions of lives over the next 15 years," he added.

World`s annual child mortality rate falling: UN

The annual number of children who die before they reach age five is shrinking, falling to 7.6 million global deaths in 2010 from more than 12 million in 1990, UNICEF and the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

Overall, 12,000 fewer children under age 5 die each day than a decade ago, the groups said in their annual report on child mortality.

Even in sub-Saharan Africa, where the burden of child mortality is greatest, the rate of improvement has more than doubled in the past decade, a sign that even the poorest regions can make progress, said Anthony Lake, executive director of the United Nations Children`s Fund or UNICEF.

Despite the improvement, more than 21,000 children die every day from preventable causes, he said in a statement.

"Focusing greater investment on the most disadvantaged communities will help us save more children`s lives, more quickly and more cost effectively," Lake said.

Between 1990 and 2010, the annual number of deaths in children under five fell to 57 per 1,000 births in 2010, from 88 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990.

Even so, improvements in child mortality rates will not be enough to meet the United Nation`s goal set in 2000 of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015, and the groups say more money is needed.

"This is proof that investing in children`s health is money well spent, and a sign that we need to accelerate that investment through the coming years," Dr. Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization, said in a statement.

She said many factors are contributing to reductions in child mortality, including better access to healthcare for newborns, prevention and treatment of childhood diseases, access to vaccines, clean water and better nutrition.

"There is more attention being paid to what ensures health globally," Ian Pett, chief of Health Systems and Strategic Planning at UNICEF, said in a telephone interview.

For example, he said the government of Sierra Leone in April lifted all fees for child and maternal health, prompting a big improvement in child mortality rates.

"Many other countries are trying to do the same thing," Pett said.

Sierra Leone ranked among the top five countries seeing improvements in child mortality in the past decade, along with Niger, Malawi, Liberia and Timor-Leste.

About half of all deaths of children under 5 in the world took place in just five countries in 2010: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and China.

Babies are particularly vulnerable. According to the report, more than 40 percent of deaths in children under age 5 occur within the first month of life and more than 70 percent occur in the first year of life.

Deaths among children under age 5 increasingly are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, with 82 percent of child deaths occurring in these regions in 2010, compared with 69 percent in 1990.

In sub-Saharan Africa, one in eight children and in southern Asia one in 15 children die before reaching age five. That compares with 1 in 143 children dying before age 5 in developed countries.

Childhood depression, anxiety tied to pain later

Children who experience abuse or other adversities and develop mental health disorders are at greater risk for chronic physical problems when they're adults.

Child maltreatment has been associated with increased risk of adverse physical health outcomes. In prior research that examined the influence of early psychosocial environment on later physical health, the potentially biasing presence of current mental disorders has generally been ignored.

Researchers examined data from people in 10 countries included in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys initiative. The team looked at anxiety disorders and depression in children and at the following childhood adversities: abuse, neglect, loss of a parent through death or other causes, divorce, parental substance abuse, parental criminal behaviour, family violence and being poor. These community surveys were conducted in person by trained interviewers.

Both anxiety and depression in childhood were associated with three chronic pain conditions in adulthood: osteoarthritis, chronic spinal pain (back or neck), and frequent or severe headache. Physical abuse in childhood was associated with a number of chronic diseases in adulthood: heart disease, asthma, diabetes, osteoarthritis, chronic spinal pain and headache, it was found.

The greater the number of childhood adversities, the higher the risk of physical health problems in adulthood.

These results are consistent with the hypothesis that childhood adversities and early-onset mental disorders have independent, broad-spectrum effects that increase the risk of diverse chronic physical conditions in later life.