Best buys for preventing NCDs
The World Health Organization has released a list of ‘Best Buys’ and recommended interventions to address Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Mortality and morbidity from NCDs is one of the major challenges for the 21st Century with more than 36 million people dying each year from NCDs.
The report contains 88 interventions for:
- the four key behavioural risk factors for NCDs - tobacco, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity
- four key disease areas - cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory disease.
The best buy for physical activity is considered to be the implementation of community-wide public education and awareness campaigns for physical activity which include mass media campaigns combined with other community-based education, motivational and environmental programmes aimed at supporting behavioural change of physical activity levels.
Other cost effective interventions include the provision of physical activity counselling and referral as part of routine primary health care services through the use of a brief intervention.
Intervention recommendations that have not been subject to a cost analysis are:
- ensure that macro-level urban design incorporates the core elements of residual density, connected street networks that include pavements, easy access to a diversity of destinations and access to public transport
- implement whole of school programmes that include quality physical education, availability of adequate facilities and programs to support physical activity for all children
- provide convenient and safe access to quality open space and adequate infrastructure to support walking and cycling
- implement multi-component workplace physical activity programmes
- promotion of physical activity through organised sport groups and clubs, programmes and events.
Interventions included in the list were compared against criteria for effectiveness, and only those that demonstrate a quantifiable effect size from at least one published study in a peer reviewed journal and a clear link to one of the global NCD targets were included.
