Noncommunicable diseases now cause 74% of global deaths

WHO's latest Global Health Estimates, released October 2, put global life expectancy at 73.3 years in 2023, close to 73.4 in 2019. Healthy life expectancy reached 62.8 years, still 0.4 years below 2019. Noncommunicable diseases caused 74% of global deaths, up from 58% in 2000, and eight of the ten leading causes of death were NCDs. Ischaemic heart disease caused about 9.5 million deaths in 2023. Deaths from Alzheimer's disease and other dementias tripled since 2000, moving dementia from nineteenth to the fifth leading cause globally. The policy challenge is not only longer lives but connecting chronic disease, mental health and data capacity.