The State of inequality: noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors report published today by the World Health Organization (WHO) provides a global assessment of inequalities in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors, examining differences between population groups within countries.

The report covers four major NCDs – cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes – and key risk factors including tobacco and alcohol use, obesity and unhealthy diets, insufficient physical activity and air pollution.

“We know that there are inequalities embedded in all aspects of health, but this is the first effort to systematically measure inequalities in NCDs and their risk factors on a global scale,” said Dr Ahmad Reza Hosseinpoor, Health Inequality Monitoring Team Lead at WHO. “The findings show which populations are being left behind, and also where a lack of inequality data hinders our understanding of inequalities.”

Drawing from national data collected over the past decade, the report examines differences in NCD burden, prevention and care by age, gender, economic status, education, place of residence, disability status, employment and migration status.