Figure 2

Comparison of global disease burden (in DALYs) with a focus on neglected non-communicable diseases. Pyramid: Neoplasms, COPD, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes (the `big four') lead to the highest proportion of disease burden among all NCDs. However, many other NCDs lead to a comparable proportion of disease burden, yet do not receive as much attention as the `big four'. We have discussed seven of these neglected NCDs (alcohol and substance abuse, liver cirrhosis, asthma, chronic kidney disease, Alzheimer's and other dementias, sickle cell disease and gout) and reviewed their disease burden. Pie chart: NCDs account for 54% of total proportion of global DALYs. Although the `big four' comprise just under half of this burden (45% of the burden of NCDs; 24.4% of the total global DALY burden) all other NCDs (i.e. the neglected NCDs) account for 55% of the burden of NCDs; 29.6% of the total global DALY burden. Data for this infographic derived from [13]. The figure has been prepared by BioMed Central.