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Scaling up efforts on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) can avert over 4.3 million deaths and yield RUB 8.1 trillion (USD 105 billion) in economic benefits in Russia over the next 15 years \u2013 suggest the results of a recent analysis by WHO and UNDP under the United Nations Interagency Task Force on NCDs. These immense benefits can be achieved through investment in five proven and cost-effective intervention packages recommended by WHO to address the major NCD risk factors. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The analysis, presented at the 4th<\/span>\u00a0All-Russia Forum on Public Health, highlighted that\u00a0NCDs exert a significant economic, social, and sustainable development toll on the Russian Federation every year. NCDs\u00a0are the leading cause of mortality and disability and are accountable for 87% of all deaths in the country. It is estimated that an average person in Russia has a 25% risk of dying prematurely (i.e. before the age of 70) from one of the four main NCDs \u2013 cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases.\u00a0In 2016, 1\u00a0635\u00a0000 people in Russia died from NCDs while still in their prime productive years. The effects of such losses go far beyond the health sector and hinder Russia\u2019s broader development priorities of increasing human capital, reducing poverty and inequality and strengthening inclusive economic growth. The investment case report shows that in 2018 alone, NCDs cost the Russian economy around 3.9% of GDP, with 86% of all costs stemming from indirect losses linked to premature mortality and reduced productivity of workers.<\/p>\n However, most of the socio-economic damage from NCDs is preventable. The results of the analysis show that by scaling up the national NCD response, the Russian Government can continue to improve the situation in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n The analysis assessed five\u00a0cost-effective\u00a0intervention packages within the Russian Federation: four policy packages to reduce the prevalence of behavioural risk\u00a0factors for\u00a0NCDs \u2013 tobacco use, harmful\u00a0use\u00a0of\u00a0alcohol,\u00a0physicalinactivity,\u00a0and\u00a0excessive\u00a0salt\u00a0consumption\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and\u00a0one\u00a0clinical\u00a0intervention\u00a0package to address cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The results show that implementation of these packages can significantly reduce the burden of NCDs and increase people\u2019s well-being and quality of life while also accelerating economic growth. The return on investment is expected to far exceed the required costs and\u00a0be as high as 50-fold over a 15-year period in the case of some interventions. In addition to these returns, the Government can expect to receive revenues from increasing taxes on health harming products – tobacco, sugar-sweetened beverages, and alcohol \u2013 which is part of the recommended intervention packages.<\/p>\n \u201cEconomic growth, equity, demographic security \u2013 nearly all facets of sustainable development are affected by the NCD burden in Russia. These investment case findings \u2013 and the real progress made to date \u2013 confirm that Russia is on the right path, but the pace needs to be increased to meet the 2030 targets.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Dudley Tarlton, Programme Specialist, Health and Development, UNDP<\/p>\n The\u00a0analysis conducted by the WHO\/UNDP joint programme under the UN NCD Task Force can be used to facilitate multi-stakeholder engagement and promote a whole-of-government, comprehensive approach to tackling NCDs in Russia. It takes into account the country\u2019s institutional and social context and contains a diverse range of compelling evidence-based arguments that could be used to appeal to a broad range of stakeholders, both in the public and the private space.<\/p>\n The Government of Russia has already demonstrated strong commitment to strengthening the prevention and control of NCDs, and the Ministry of Health’s strategic goals under Presidential Decree No. 204 of 2018 include several NCD-related priorities. The Russian Federation also supports other countries in their efforts to tackle NCDs, for example through the WHO\/UNDP joint programme on catalyzing multisectoral action on NCDs.<\/p>\n “The Russian Federation continues to demonstrate outstanding leadership on the prevention and control of NCDs at national, regional, and global levels. We are happy that the comprehensive analysis conducted by UNIATF can inform Russia\u2019s continued multisectoral and multistakeholder efforts to address NCDs and other health-related SDGs.”<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0Dr Svetlana Akselrod, Director, Global NCD Platform, WHO<\/p>\n \nThe analysis prepared by the Task Force confirms the importance of such commitment and advocates for further scale up of Russia’s national NCD response to improve health and wellbeing of millions of Russian people while enhancing economic growth and prosperity for millions more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n