Nigeria, Oct. 3 -- Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, diabetes and dementia accounted for 74 per cent of global deaths in 2023, up from 58 per cent in 2000, according to the latest estimates released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The findings, contained in the WHO's latest Global Health Estimates released on Friday, show that although global life expectancy has largely recovered from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the world's disease burden is increasingly shifting towards chronic illnesses and mental health conditions.

According to the report, global life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023, almost returning to the 73.4 years recorded in 2019 before the pandemic. However, healthy life e...