Pollution and non-communicable disease: time to end the neglect

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 72% of all deaths globally and this proportion is growing. Greatest increases in NCD mortality are seen in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Places that only a generation ago knew famine are today experiencing epidemics of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. These epidemics reduce human capital in developing countries and their economic costs are so great that they threaten to slow and even undercut trajectories of economic and social development.