"In just the five countries surveyed," said Dr. Leeder, "our conservative estimates are that at least 21 million years of future productive life are lost because of CVD each year." This number is set to rise to 34 million years of life lost by 2020. In South Africa, even with the overwhelming presence of HIV/AIDS as the leading cause of death, CVD ranks third in terms of women's disease burden, whereas it is sixth for men. Moreover, among South Africa's non-communicable diseases, the CVD burden comes to rest most heavily on poor women. In South Africa, CVD causes the highest portion of years of life lost due to non-communicable diseases for poor women, 46%.
Dr Henry Greenberg,* another of the report's co-authors, has a longstanding interest in the treatment of people at high risk of CVD in the Russian republic of Tatarstan.
"In Tatarstan, Greenberg says, "CVD death rates among young men have gone up by 70% in 20 years. We see an increase in risk factors among them, including high blood pressure, smoking, poor diet and increasingly sedentary lifestyles.
"We can offer these people effective and cheap treatment for blood pressure and cholesterol, which will have an immediate effect, while helping them quit smoking and also encouraging change in the community toward healthier lifestyles," he added.
The report A Race against Time is available in pdf format at www.earthlumbia/images/raceagainsttime_FINAL_0410404.pdf. The Center for Global Health and Economic Development is a joint project of The Earth Institute at Columbia (www.earthlumbia) and Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health. It includes the Access Project for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which is funded by the Glaser Progress Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development. In addition to the Access Project, CGHED staff members have worked with health officials to establish a national Task Force on Macroeconomics and Health. The Task Force seeks to implement the recommendations of the World Health Organization's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, which was chaired by Professor Sachs. The Commission's 2001 report, "Investing in Health for Economic Development," shows that, in addition to reducing suffering and improving well being, investing in health can be a concrete input to economic development, and indeed is essential for economic and social development in the world's poorest countries.