Eliminating heart disease, diabetes and other non-communicable illnesses may add between 4 percent and 10 percent to the gross domestic product of South Asia including India, the World Bank said.

Heart disease is the biggest killer of people between the ages of 15 and 69 years in South Asia, the Washington-based bank said in a report published today. Non-communicable diseases now account for more than half of all disease in the region traditionally plagued by infectious maladies, the bank said.

Overweight and obesity, risk factors for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, and certain forms of cancer, are responsible for a significant portion of the global burden of chronic disease. They are also implicated in the chronic disability that affects many people’s lives. These problems represent a significant challenge to public health experts and policymakers not just in the U.S.

On 23rd December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a UN Modalities Resolution outlining the length, details and agenda of the UN Summit on Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs), which will take place on 19–20th September 2011 in New York. The representative of Trinidad and Tobago, speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said the consensus adoption of the text underscored recognition of the urgent need for the international community to address the rising incidence and prevalence of those diseases.

This week, more than 30 heads of state will join chief executives from the world's largest global businesses and leaders of civil society, academia and the media at Davos for the 2011 World Economic Forum. They will work toward developing a global agenda and building solutions to some of the most pressing issues of our time. I am encouraged that this year Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), currently the cause of more than 60% of deaths in the world -- of which 80% are in the developing world -- are on the agenda.