Answer:
The leading global risks for mortality in the world
are high blood pressure (responsible for 13% of
deaths globally), tobacco use (9%), high blood glu-
cose (6%), physical inactivity (6%), and overweight
and obesity (5%). These risks are responsible for
raising the risk of chronic diseases such as heart
disease, diabetes and cancers. They affect countries
across all income groups: high, middle and low.
The leading global risks for burden of disease as
measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)
are underweight (6% of global DALYs) and unsafe
sex (5%), followed by alcohol use (5%) and unsafe
water, sanitation and hygiene (4%). Three of these
risks particularly affect populations in low-income
countries, especially in the regions of South-East
Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The fourth risk – alco-
hol use – shows a unique geographic and sex pat-
tern, with its burden highest for men in Africa, in
middle-income countries in the Americas and in
some high-income countries.
