Tackling Africa's chronic disease burden: from the local to the global

Africa faces a double burden of infectious and chronic diseases. While infectious diseases still account for at least 69% of deaths in the continent, age specific mortality rates from chronic diseases as a whole are actually higher in sub-Saharan Africa than in virtually all regions of the world, in both men and women. Over the next ten years, the continent is projected to experience the largest increase in death rates from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases and diabetes. This editorial reviews eight original papers which offer new empirical evidence and comprehensive reviews on diabetes in Tanzania, sickle cell disease in Nigeria, chronic mental illness in rural Ghana, HIV/AIDS care-giving among children in Kenya and chronic disease interventions in Ghana and Cameroon. There is an urgent need for primary and secondary interventions and for African health policy makers and government to prioritize the development and implementation of chronic disease policies.