May 14, 2003

GENEVA (AP) -- In a bid to curb the global growth in heart and other chronic diseases, the World Health Organization on Wednesday launched a report examining the use of tobacco and other risk factors in 170 countries.

"This is the first step in a major ongoing initiative to bring noncommunicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and respiratory diseases under control," said the U.N. health agency.

The 42-page "SURF Report 1: Surveillance of Risk Factors," comes with a compact disk for computer use. Information is more complete for industrialized countries than it is for developing ones.

But WHO is adding to the project so that by early next year Internet users will be able to examine and compare the situations of different countries, said Dr. Kate Strong, manager of the data-collection project.

Strong said WHO would continue to "produce better quality data on these risk factors."

The data was contributed by 1,400 different sources, including government health ministries, private organizations and authors of health studies, WHO said.

The agency conceded that it faced major problems because "it is hard to find data that are directly comparable because of differing methods, age groups, definitions."

But it said it had enough to begin trying to "harmonize" the data so that comparisons can be made.

The project is targeted at helping developing countries, which traditionally have had to face a much heavier burden than rich countries in coping with infectious diseases like polio and measles.

Now developing countries face the spread from wealthier countries of "life style" diseases, which result from smoking and other practices of choice.

Dr. Ruth Bonita, WHO director of surveillance for noncommunicable diseases, said, "The risk factors like tobacco, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity - they are very prevalent and they are growing" in developing countries.

Janet Voute, chief executive of the co-sponsoring World Heart Federation, said, "Data on these risk factors can predict disease patterns" and enable to governments and others to launch publicity campaigns and take other steps to help avert the diseases.

Heart disease and stroke alone are blamed for one in three deaths around the world, Voute said. The two diseases together claim 17 million lives a year, 80 percent of them in developing countries.

The project includes national statistics on eight risk factors: tobacco use, alcohol consumption, diet, physical inactivity, obesity, blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes.

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