Widespread death due to communicable disease has always been associated with the spread of germs and pathogens in poor countries, while few in developed nations suffered from so-called ''lifestyle diseases'' like heart problems and diabetes.

However, all this may change, as per the latest report, World Health Statistics 2008, from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO said today that chronic conditions such as heart disease and stroke, often associated with a rich Western lifestyle, have become the chief causes of death globally, and that the shift from infectious diseases including tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria - traditionally the biggest killers - to non-communicable diseases is set to continue to 2030.

Another major killer would be road accidents, a side effect of increased car ownership. These facts were made public in the report titled "World Health Statistics 2008." It is based on data collected from the WHO's 193 member states, and documents levels of mortality in children and adults, patterns of disease, and the prevalence of risk factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption.

By 2030, deaths due to cancer, cardiovascular diseases and traffic accidents will together account for about 75 per cent of all deaths, it said.

"In more and more countries, the chief causes of deaths are non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and stroke," Ties Boerma, director of the WHO department of health statistics and informatics, said in a statement.

''We are definitely seeing a trend towards fewer people dying of infectious diseases across the world…We tend to associate developing countries with infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. But in more and more countries the chief causes of death are non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease and stroke,'' he added.

The figures involved
"Globally, deaths from cancer will increase from 7.4 million in 2004 to 11.8 million in 2030, and deaths from cardiovascular diseases will rise from 17.1 million to 23.4 million in the same period," the survey stated.

"Deaths due to road traffic accidents will increase from 1.3 million in 2004 to 2.4 million in 2030, primarily owing to increased motor vehicle ownership and use associated with economic growth in low- and middle-income countries.

The WHO statistics found that this increase in deaths from non-communicable diseases would be accompanied by "large declines in mortality for the main communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional causes, including HIV infection, tuberculosis and malaria."

However, deaths worldwide from HIV/AIDS are expected to rise from 2.2 million in 2008 to a maximum of 2.4 million in 2012 before declining to 1.2 million in 2030.

WHO director-general Margaret Chan, in a speech at the WHO's annual assembly on Monday, voiced concern at the growing toll of chronic non-communicable diseases.

"Diabetes and asthma are on the rise everywhere. Even low-income countries are seeing shocking increases in obesity, especially in urban areas and often starting in childhood," Chan said.

Tobacco use is the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide, killing "a third to a half of all those who use it", according to the WHO. It contributes to deaths from ischemic heart disease, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which numbered 5.4 million in 2004.

More than 80 per cent of the 8.3 million tobacco-attributable deaths projected to occur in 2030 will be in developing countries, it says.