The World Health Organization revealed on Wednesday that non-communicable diseases accounted for seven of the top 10 causes of death before Covid-19, as per media reports.

It further revealed that heart disease has killed more people than ever before.

In its Global Health Estimates report, WHO found that people were living longer lives in 2019 than in 2000. However, those extra years were not necessarily lived in good health.

The study, which examined trends over the last two decades in mortality and morbidity caused by diseases and injuries, showed that non-communicable diseases accounted for four of the top 10 causes of death back in 2000. This further rose to seven in 2019, before the Covid-19 spread across the globe.

WHO in a statement said that the figures clearly highlight the need for an intensified global focus on preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, as well as tackling injuries.

Heart disease has been the world's biggest cause of death for the last 20 years. "However, it is now killing more people than ever before," the WHO said. It stated that this has taken nine million lives in 2019 -- up by two million since 2000.

Heart disease accounts for 16 per cent of total deaths from all causes. More than half of those two million additional heart disease deaths were in the WHO's Western Pacific region.

Furthermore, the global average life expectancy was more than 73 years in 2019, compared to nearly 67 in 2000.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "These new estimates are another reminder that we need to rapidly step-up prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of non-communicable diseases. "They highlight the urgency of drastically improving primary health care equitably and holistically. Strong primary health care is clearly the foundation on which everything rests, from combatting non-communicable diseases to managing a global pandemic."

Earlier reports have revealed that Covid-19 is lethal for people with co-morbidities, including diabetic patients, patients with cardiovascular and kidney diseases, among others.

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