WHO: 80% of China Deaths from Non-Communicable Diseases

December 7, 2012
World Health Organization officials are urging China to reduce the country’s high rates of non-communicable diseases, warning that medical costs and productivity losses stemming from those diseases will amount to significant economic losses for the world’s second-largest economy.
Heart disease, strokes, diabetes and chronic lung disease are mounting in China, accounting for 80% of deaths and more than 70% of the country’s health expenditures, said Michael O’Leary, the WHO representative to China, in a press briefing Friday. By 2015, a decade of costs tied to health care and losses of productivity from diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are expected to reach as high as $550 billion, Mr. O’Leary said

Continued:  http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/12/07/who-80-of-china-deaths-from-non-communicable-diseases/