WHO: US$3 per person investment could save millions of lives
The World Health Organization (WHO) infers that a modest investment of just US$3 per person annually in preventing and treating noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) could yield more than US$1 trillion in economic benefits by 2030. The finding comes in a new report, Saving Lives, Spending Less, released ahead of a key UN meeting on global health.
The report is paired with a new analysis of NCD mortality between 2010 and 2019. WHO said 82% of countries reduced NCD-related deaths during that period, but progress has slowed, with some nations now seeing reversals. Denmark recorded the largest improvements, while reductions were also reported in China, Egypt, Nigeria, Russia, and Brazil. Cardiovascular disease and several cancers drove much of the decline, but mortality from pancreatic and liver cancers and neurological conditions increased in many countries.
NCDs, which are dubbed as “lifestyle diseases”, such as heart disease, cancer, respiratory illness, and diabetes cause the majority of deaths worldwide. More than one billion people also live with mental health conditions. WHO noted that nearly 75% of deaths linked to NCDs and mental health occur in low- and middle-income countries, amounting to 32 million lives lost each year.
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WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said NCDs and mental health conditions were “silent killers” undermining both lives and economic potential. He cited Denmark, South Korea, and Moldova as examples of countries advancing in prevention, while warning that others were stalling.
The agency stressed that solutions are affordable and proven, but governments face resistance from powerful commercial lobbies in tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed food. Dr. Etienne Krug, Director of WHO’s Department of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention, said governments must prioritize public health over industry profits.
WHO urged countries to scale up its “Best Buys”—interventions such as tobacco and alcohol taxation, restrictions on harmful marketing, hypertension management, and cervical cancer screening. Full implementation would cost just US$3 per person annually but could, by 2030, save 12 million lives, prevent 28 million heart attacks and strokes, add 150 million healthy life years, and generate more than US$1 trillion in returns.
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WHO is urging leaders to secure financing, expand access to essential medicines, strengthen primary care, tax harmful products, protect children from unhealthy marketing, and enforce accountability measures. The agency said the upcoming declaration represents the most significant political opportunity in a decade to reverse the global burden of NCDs and mental illness and chart a course toward healthier societies through and beyond 2030.
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