WEALTH

Over 100,000 vendors at
the market represent
factories from all
over China and sell
to both local and
international
customers
More than 400,000
different kinds of
products are for sale,
65% of which are
exported to over 215
countries and regions
diseases remain high. In India, for example, two-fifths of
children under five are malnourished even as obesity rates
are exploding.
This presents health systems with a double burden,
says Irina A. Nikolic, senior health specialist in the World
Bank Group Global Health Practice (pages 17–19): how
to maintain and further the gains made against
communicable diseases while addressing NCDs. Systems
in the West have had generations to adapt to a gradual rise
in NCDs. Those in Asia need to juggle an effective approach
to both in a far shorter time frame.
While some Asian countries, such as Japan and
Singapore, have healthcare systems that are among the
most advanced in the world, others – such as Indonesia –
are only now extending basic health services to all citizens.
Threadbare health systems will struggle with the rise of
NCDs, but others designed to address acute care needs that
come with communicable diseases will also need
fundamental adjustments, as chronic NCDs can require
decades of care and medication.
Such considerations should influence policymakers
in each country in prioritizing resources to deal with
the current and future burden of disease. Where they
can take inspiration from is in recent triumphs in
tackling communicable diseases. If systems can adjust to
tackling NCDs with the same vigor, then in the next
decades billions of people could indeed benefit from
a better quality of life, for longer.
Allianz • 11