Country Level Aging and Disease Burden(cont...)

Maldives

Maldives is in the mid to later stages of the demographic transition, which is expected to advance in the future (Figure 2.5). The proportion of the population 65 years and older will move from 3.5 percent in 2000 to 6.3 percent in 2025.

Figure 2.5 Age structure of Maldives, 2000 and 2025

Source: U.S Census Bureau. www.census.gov/ipc, accessed July 1, 2010.

In 2004, NCDs accounted for 77.4 percent of the total burden of forgone DALYs, with the remainder from communicable diseases and MCH issues. Of the total DALY burden, CVD accounts for 9.7 percent, mental health 18.7 percent, cancer 10.6 percent, respiratory diseases 2.7 percent, diabetes 2.4 percent, and injuries 14.6 percent. NCDs account for 74.5 percent of all deaths with CVD (26.1 percent) the leading cause followed by cancer (24.0 percent), respiratory diseases (6.4 percent), and diabetes (5.2 percent). Injuries account for 12.9 percent of total deaths.

* CVD:

This is the leading cause of mortality and contributed to 45 percent of all deaths in 2003.

* Diabetes:

Affects 7.1 percent of men and 6.8 percent of women.

* Obesity:

Approximately 13 percent are obese (body mass index >30 kg/m2) and its prevalence is twice as high in women (17 percent) as in men (9 percent). The prevalence of obesity increases

with age: approximately 50 percent of women over 35 years are overweight or obese.

* Injuries:

Among all injuries, road traffic injuries account for 2.3 percent of total deaths and

2.8 percent of total DALYs.

* Thalassaemia:

It is major public health problem. One out of every six persons is a carrier for thalassaemia, and the country has the highest incidence of the disease in the world.

* Smoking:

Prevalence is among the highest in South Asia (males 45 percent, females 12 percent)

while smoking prevalence among youth is lower than in most other countries (boys 9 percent,

girls 3 percent).