The global diffusion of non-communicable diseases

Abstract

Abstract Notwithstanding the threat of infectious pandemics, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are now the leading cause of preventable mortality and morbidity in all regions of the world except Africa. The rise in NCDs, especially in the developing world, is very much a result of global market integration, trade and investment liberalization, and the growth in the reach and power of transnational corporations whose stock-in-trade are health-harmful commodities (tobacco, alcohol, and obesogenic foods). The modern global governance challenge of what are now referred to as the ‘commercial determinants of health’ is the extent to which such commodities are regulated by governments, passed over to corporate social (self-) responsibility, or seen as an amalgam of the poor lifestyles of individuals in need of a behavioural ‘nudge’. The World Health Organization, the lead international organization developing responses to the NCD threat, must confront powerful member nations representing powerful corporate interests resistant to regulatory change.