Health-report-English-version

NATIONAL HEALTH REPORTLongevity, mortality and burden of disease among adults:• Life expectancy in Albania has increased steadily in the past twenty years inboth sexes (in males: from 67 years in 1990 to 73 years in 2012; in females:from 71 years in 1990 to 75 years in 2012; WHO, 2014).• Various changes, among which demographic changes (11% of the population wasaged 65 years and over in 2011) have naturally led to a clear epidemiologicaltransition in Albania over the past two decades with a significant shift frominfectious diseases to non-communicable diseases (NCDs).• In 2012, infectious diseases accounted for 11% of the total burden of diseasein Albania, exhibiting a significant declining trend in the past twenty years.Yet, given the current rate of improvement, the actual European average levelof 5% of the total burden could be reached within 10-12 years.• In 2010, NCDs in Albania accounted for about 88% of all deaths (55%cardiovascular diseases and 19% cancer; GBD, 2010). Albania has thus joinedthe majority of European countries that face the NCD epidemic as its mostimportant public health challenge.• Remarkably, the (age-standardized) total burden of disease in Albanian malesand females in 2010 was the highest in the South Eastern European (SEE)region (GBD, 2010).• Specifically, the mortality rate from ischemic heart disease in Albania is thehighest in the SEE region (GBD, 2010). Furthermore, Albania is the only countryin the region which has experienced an increase in the mortality rate fromischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases in the past two decades(GBD, 2010) – indicating an early evolutionary stage of the coronary epidemic,which was observed many decades ago in the Western countries.• As a matter of fact, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and lowerrespiratory infections were the highest ranking causes regarding the numberof years of life lost due to premature death in Albania in 2010 (GBD, 2010).• There is evidence of a gradual increase in the mortality rates from neoplasmsin Albania in both sexes. Yet, in 2010, death rates from neoplasms in Albaniawere the lowest in the SEE region (GBD, 2010). This may all have been relatedto a previously relatively low smoking prevalence which is now demandingand increasing death-toll in Albania.HEALTH STATUS OF THE ALBANIAN POPULATION5V