MHS 631 GLOBAL NON-COMMUNICABLE (NCD) EPIDEMIOLOGY

Credits

3

Notes

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as obesity, diabetes, mental illnesses, injuries, cardiovascular disease and cancer, are responsible for the greatest burden of death and disability globally. NCDs are of critical importance to all countries currently dominate the global health and political agenda. Responding to this epidemic requires interdisciplinary, multi-systems, implementation and dissemination approaches. Researchers, public health specialists and policy makers from around the world working in this field require a critical understanding of the commonalities and differences in perspectives across sectors, which will enable them to work effectively within a ‘global’ ecological perspective on NCDs. This course will address the current paradigms and controversies in epidemiology. Emphasis will be placed on those NCDs of high prevalence or unique biological characteristics that illustrate interesting epidemiological or etiological characteristics or those that hold greatest promise of control. Comparison of NCD rates across countries and epochs, and the evidence for the causes of these differences will be explored. The goal is to encourage students to think creatively about the NCD problem and explore research opportunities that will contribute meaningfully to reduction in NCD morbidity and mortality throughout the world.