13.2.4. Avoidable Burden of diseases.

The WHO (2005) presented estimates of the Burden of Disease, measured in DALY's lost, for the individual countries of the European Region of WHO for the year 2002. The same study has made additional estimates of the major risk factors that contribute to that Burden of Disease. As these major risk factors are largely preventable, the study presents a rough estimate for the preventable Burden of Disease in European countries (Table 13.8).

Table 13.6. WHO estimates for preventable Burden of Disease (DALY's) in the EU27 Member States (2002)

The major preventable risk factors in the European Union (Table 13.6) are smoking, having a high blood pressure, drinking too much alcohol, overweight, high blood levels of cholesterol and physically inactivity. Most of these factors can be improved by improving our lifestyles, occasionally by taking specific medication.

Eating more fruit and vegetables and refraining from illicit drugs and unsafe sex would lessen the burden of disease in the EU even further.

It is clear from the data reported in Table 13.6 that these risk factors have a different impact in different Countries. Moreover, it is to be considered that this data comparison refers to the general population and, therefore, the impact within the population groups with specific lifestyles is underestimated. They do indicate, however, that prevention and health promotion can contribute to a significant improvement in European health, resulting both in a reduced burden for the healthcare systems and in an even higher benefit for the population groups with unhealthy habits.