Iris Mone1,2, Bledar Kraja1,2, Anila Beqja-Lika2
1 Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine, Tirana, Albania;
2 University Hospital Centre “Mother Teresa”, Tirana, Albania.
Aim: The aim of this analysis was to describe the estimated burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Albania for the period 1990-2017.
Methods: The current analysis is based on the burden of disease estimates reported by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (http://www.healthdata.org/) for the following outcome: Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), a measure of the overall disease burden combining the number of years lost due to premature death and the number of years lost due to diseases and disabilities.
Results: In 2017, the crude burden of NCDs in Albania was about 22,690 DALYs per 100,000 population. Conversely, at the breakdown of the communist regime in 1990, the crude NCD burden was only 15,686 DALYs per 100,000 population. Hence, at a crude level, there is an increase of about 45% in the burden of NCDs for the period 1990-2017. The age-standardized burden of NCDs (DALYs per 100,000 population) in Albania in 2017 was higher than in Slovenia, comparable to Croatia, but lower than in most of the former Yugoslavian Republics. Of note, at the end of the communist regime in 1990, the NCD burden in Albania was lower than in all the former Yugoslavian Republics.
Conclusion: At a crude level, the estimated burden of NCDs in Albania exhibits a monotonic increase in the past three decades. There is a clear call for implementation of effective measures and programs aiming at control and prevention of NCDs in Albania, especially in light of tremendous changes in behavioural characteristics of the general population.
Keywords: burden of disease, Disability-Adjusted Life Years, estimate, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, non-communicable diseases.