The Global Burden of Disease: Generating Evidence, Guiding Policy – Middle East and North Africa Regional Edition summarizes the main findings for the Middle East and North Africa and explores the leading causes of diseases, injuries, and risk factors in countries across the region. The publication shows that in the Middle East and North Africa, health challenges are becoming increasingly similar to those in Western countries. Published by the World Bank and IHME, the report is based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010 (GBD 2010), a collaborative effort of researchers from 50 countries around the world led by IHME at the University of Washington.

The report finds that as people live longer in the Middle East and North Africa, the major public health threats are shifting from diseases that primarily cause death in children, including lower respiratory infections and diarrhea, to more disabling causes such as low back pain and depression. Non-communicable diseases such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, and diabetes are causing more premature death and disability than they did in the past, and potentially preventable risk factors such as poor diet, high blood pressure, smoking, and high blood sugar are contributing to the growing burden of these diseases in the region.