The Global Burden of Disease study (GBD) is led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington. The GBD estimates are informed by a wide range of data, evidence, and expertise. The study uses a large and diverse set of up-to-date data sources and robust standardised methods to provide a comprehensive and comparative assessment of health loss. It allows us to understand the ‘big picture’ of New Zealand’s health based on recent evidence, with each new cycle incorporating new evidence and insights as they become available. The most recent iteration – GBD 2019 – has just been released (IHME, 2019).

Table 11: prevalence of NCDs, Injuries and Communicable diseases in NZ

		Prevalence (%)
NCD	Neurological	37%
	Musculoskeletal	26%
	Mental	17%
	Diabetes & CKD	13%
	Chronic respiratory	11%
	Cardiovascular	9.7%
	Neoplasm	8.6%
	Substance use	4.6%
Injuries	Unintentional injury	59%
	Self harm/violence	3.6%
	Transport injuries	3.4%
Communicable	Respiratory infections & TB	16%

 

Nine of the top 10 contributors to disability are NCDs, with Cancers and cardiovascular disease account for over one third of DALYs in NZ (table 12).

Table 12

NCD 82%	Neoplasm	18.5%
	Cardiovascular	15.1%
	Mental	8.7%
	Musculoskeletal	8.6%
	Other NCD	6.6%
	Neurological	6.3%
	Chronic respiratory	5.2%
	Diabetes & CKD	4%
	Substance use	2.4%
Injuries 14%	Unintentional injury	8%
	Self harm/violence	2%
	Transport injuries	2%
Communicable 4%

 

A similar picture is seen when looking at all causes of mortality in NZ, with seven of the top 10 causes of death attributable to NCDs. Cardiovascular disease accounts for over a third of all deaths, with NCDs accounting for >90% of mortality across all ages (Table 13).

Table 13: All causes of mortality in NZ

NCD 91%	Cardiovascular	34.5%
	Neoplasms	31%
	Neurological	8%
	Chronic respiratory	7%
	Diabetes & CKD	4.5%
	Digestive diseases	3.1%
Injuries 5%	Unintentional injury	2.4%
	Self harm/violence	1.7%
	Transport injuries	1.2%
Communicable 4%	Respiratory & TB	2.7%

 

References:

IHME. (2019). Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (GBD 2019) Data Resources. Available from: https://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-2019