At first hand
Mar. 2013Non-communicable diseases
Editorial Andrea Arz de Falco. People now live twice as long as they did a hundred years ago. We owe this huge increase in life expectancy to medical progress, advances in the economic and social spheres, better hygiene and education, the development of the social insurance systems, etc. The improvement in our quality of life has also come with changes to our lifestyle and working conditions.
But there is a downside to this great achievement: the rise in chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases and in chronic respiratory-tract conditions. These long-term illnesses that cannot be transmitted from one person to another are now the most common causes of death in our society.
However, we are not entirely powerless to deal with this increase in chronic diseases. In fact, more than half of them could be prevented. They are, indeed, promoted by the same risk factors: an unbalanced diet, lack of exercise and the harmful effects of alcohol consumption and smoking. In order to combat this threat to our health, each and every one of us must take personal responsibility. And health policy must focus on investing in the prevention of non-communicable diseases and in health promotion. At the same time, we must not forget that factors such as income, education, the environment, etc., have a direct impact on the health of the population.
The Swiss Government wants to create resources for combating chronic diseases, making this one of the aims of the global "Health 2020" strategy. Strengthening and developing measures to promote health and prevent disease are key to the success of this endeavour. The saying that "Prevention is better than cure" has lost none of its validity!
Andrea Arz de Falco, Head of the Public Health Directorate, Vice-Director Federal Office of Public Health
