WHO / NEW DATA NCDS

The WHO “Saving lives, spending less: the global investment case for noncommunicable diseases” shows how such measures as health taxes on tobacco and alcohol, protecting children from harmful marketing, managing hypertension, and scaling up cervical cancer screening, can deliver returns for both health and economies. WHO

• Video Length: 00:04:36
• Production Date: 18 September 2025
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO
• Subject Topical: NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
• MAMS Id: 3447620
• Parent Id: 3447620
• Alternate Title: unifeed250917c

Description

STORY: WHO / NEW DATA NCDS
TRT: 4:36
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WHO ON SCREEN / EMBARGO TILL 18 SEPTEMBER 2025, THURSDAY, 9:30AM EST
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 15 SEPTEMBER 2025, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Shotlist

1. Med shot, Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention speaking
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention:
“Seventy-five percent of all people who die in the world die from non-communicable diseases. That's like 43 million people every year, of which 18 million are dying before the age of 70, which we call premature death. So, it's a huge number of people. There's still too much fatalism. I think we think, okay, people have heart attacks, they have strokes, they die from cancer, but we can do something about it. And putting this topic front and centre, recognizing also the impact of private sector on this is very important in order to be able to tackle it.”
3. Wide shot, Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention speaking
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention:
Most non-communicable diseases can be traced back to tobacco smoking, to unhealthy foods, too much fat, too much sugar, too much salt, lack of physical activity. Private sector has a big role in either steering people towards healthy options or continuing to make profit, knowing very well that people will die from smoking tobacco or eating unhealthy foods.
5.Close up, Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention speaking
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention:
“The latest WHO, NCD countdown shows that progress is slowing down. Even in 60% of countries, we're seeing a reverse of the downwards trend, so it is high time to put our actions where our words have been. There have been a number of high-level political meetings, they have been very important in elevating the attention, catalysing action. But we need to do much more and much faster.”
7. Wide shot, Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention speaking
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention:
“WHO is publishing a series of best buys to tackle NCDs, and these are extremely important because best buys are interventions that are very cost effective. We invest money in them, but we get much more money back in return. We're talking here about taxing tobacco or alcohol or unhealthy foods, sugary drinks, etc. for example. We're talking about improving access to health services, primary health care in order to detect. Another way of detecting is also cancer screening. All of these interventions are very cost effective. If we implement them, we're going to save lives and save money. There's no excuse.”
9. Close up, Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention speaking
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention:

“The initial investment is only of $3 per person. It's the price of a cup of coffee in many countries, sometimes even less. So, it's a small investment with huge return. We can save 28 million heart attacks and strokes if we invest in those interventions. 12 million lives can be saved by 2030 if we invest in those interventions. So very small investment but very big return.”
11. Med shot, Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention speaking
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention:
“Brazil, Thailand and Mexico are excellent examples of how health taxes can work. In Thailand, for example, taxes on alcohol and on tobacco are being directly invested in their Health Promotion Foundation. In Mexico, the soda tax, taxing sugary drinks has been very effective in reducing sugar consumption, and the same in Brazil, where taxes on tobacco have helped reduce smoking rates by half. So these are taxes that reduce consumption and of course, bring in also additional funds to the government and particularly to the health system.”
13. Med shot, Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention speaking
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention:
“Fully implementing the new series of WHO best buys would save lives. It would save 28 million or avoid 28 million strokes and heart attacks, save up to 12 million lives. But it also would generate enormous financial benefits, up to 1 trillion USD could be generated in benefits from implementing the WHO best buys.”
15. Med shot, Dr Etienne Krug, WHO, Director for Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention speaking

Storyline

The WHO “Saving lives, spending less: the global investment case for noncommunicable diseases” shows how such measures as health taxes on tobacco and alcohol, protecting children from harmful marketing, managing hypertension, and scaling up cervical cancer screening, can deliver returns for both health and economies.

The Countdown 2030 data benchmark reveals countries' progress over the past two decades. Recently released data on the world’s mental health and mental health systems completes the picture.