The Global Burden of Disease: Generating Evidence, Guiding Policy – Europe and Central Asia Regional Edition

The Global Burden of Disease: Generating Evidence, Guiding Policy – Europe and Central Asia Regional Edition summarizes regional findings for Europe and Central Asia and explores intraregional differences in diseases, injuries, and risk factors. The report finds that chronic disease and a gender gap in health are taking a growing toll in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Published by the World Bank and IHME, the report is based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010 (GBD 2010), a collaborative effort of researchers from 50 countries around the world led by IHME at the University of Washington.

Premature mortality and illness from non-communicable diseases, such as ischemic heart disease, cirrhosis, and diabetes, increased over the past two decades, and drug and alcohol use disorders are causing more early deaths and disability than two decades ago. While women have seen their mortality rates steadily decline over the past 40 years, men in some age groups have experienced increases in mortality, and others have seen little or no progress. Men in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are more likely to die prematurely than women, a trend driven by rising levels of chronic diseases connected to alcohol and tobacco use.