How big is the 'next big thing'? Estimating the burden of non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries

Non-communicable causes of death and disability will dominate global health agenda for the foreseeable
future. The progress in addressing their burden and achieving measurable reduction in low– and middle–
income countries (LMICs) will likely require similar steps that were effective in reducing maternal and
child mortality globally: (i) defining the size of the burden and the main causes responsible for the majority of the burden; (ii) understanding the most important risk factors and their importance in different contexts; (iii) systematically assessing the effectiveness and cost of the interventions that are feasible and
available in LMICs; and (iv) formulating evidence–based health policies that will define appropriate health
care and health research priorities to tackle the burden in the most cost–effective way.