Burden of non-communicable diseases in Iraq after the 2003 war

OBJECTIVES: To figure out the burden of chronic non-communicable diseases in Iraq on the health system through measuring the incidence and trend of these diseases. METHODS: This descriptive study that was conducted between January 2016 and 2017, involved treatment data of chronic non-communicable diseases (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, stroke, asthma and epilepsy). The data was collected from the registry of the Department of Health and Vital Statistics in the Ministry of Health, Babylon, Iraq, between 2000 and 2016. RESULTS: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus had significantly increased from 19.58/1000 in the year 2000 to 42.27 in 2015 (p=0.0002). The prevalence of hypertension also increased from 31.33 to 45.82 (p=0.003) in the same period. The prevalence of cerebrovascular accidents showed a significant increase especially after 2008 (p=0.007), while ischemic heart diseases increased from 6.3/1000 in the year 2000 to 8.2/1000 in 2014 with no significant change. CONCLUSION: Non-communicable diseases in Iraq continue to show as a new developing burden after the 2003 war. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus demonstrate rapidly rising trends which may, in turn, enhance the occurrence of ischemic heart diseases and cerebrovascular accidents.