ABSTRACT
The architects of the British National Health Service firmly believed that the need and demand for it would fall. They saw it, in the long term, as a health maintenance service. Non-communicable diseases are very different from communicable diseases. They develop over much longer periods, and often cause disabling illness long before they cause death. A large part of this non-communicable disease burden can be ascribed to a small number of risk factors. The term cardiovascular disease encompasses separate conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels, with many pathophysiological features and risk factors in common. Men are at greater risk of cardiovascular disease than women. Premature deaths from cancer have also fallen over the last quarter of a century, but less so than cardiovascular disease. Diabetes mellitus causes both premature death and disability. The world over, public health professionals tend to focus on the noncommunicable diseases that represent the greatest burden in the population. This is understandable.
