Among every 100,000 locals, 90 suffer from stroke, 12 are cardiac patients and 180 are threatened by cancers.

About 1.2 million local people suffer from high blood pressure and 300,000 are diabetes patients.

The top three killers in the city are chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD), tumours and respiratory system problems - they account for 75 per cent of total deaths.

According to the newly-released World Health Report 2002 by the World Health Organization, chronic NCDs including cancer, cardiovascular ailments and diabetes have become the No.1 health enemy of humankind, contributing to 60 per cent of premature deaths worldwide.

"The world is living dangerously, and the percentage will increase to 73 per cent by 2020," said Pekka Puska, director of WHO's Department of Non-communicable Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion.

Risk factors

A report from local Health Bureaux shows that the highest risk factors for health are an unhealthy lifestyle (including smoking), unbalanced nutrition and insufficient exercise, high blood pressure and obesity.

Statistics show that about 65 per cent of local men and 4 per cent of women are smokers, and the smoking group is expanding among young people. About 51 per cent have experienced second-hand smoking.

More than one quarter of local students are malnourished. And many other citizens don't have a proper diet, due to consuming too much fat and too few vegetables and fruit. Some nutritional elements are also missing such as vitamin B2 and calcium.

Lack of exercise worsens physical condition: 60 per cent of locals don't exercise on their own initiatives and more than 26 per cent are seated for long periods.

About 16 in every 100 are over-weight and nearly 5 per cent are obese, 11 per cent of whom are primary and middle school students.

Healthy lifestyle

Most NCDs are preventable if people are living in a healthy way with a proper diet and exercises, said medical experts. "Prevention through a healthy lifestyle is a much more cost-effective approach compared with treatment in hospitals," Puska said.

Fortunately, the public is developing an increasing awareness of the importance of healthcare. Nowadays, one of the best selling books in book stores all around China is "Lifestyle and Health" by Professor Hong Shaoguang. In his book, he introduces the community to the proper way of keeping healthy in a humourous way.

Several weeks ago, when Hong gave a lecture in Shanghai Library about healthy lifestyles, several hundred listeners turned up leaving standing room only. The audience was mostly the elderly and a few were middle-aged.

"I hope more young people will listen to my lecture," said Hong.

"That's because a healthy lifestyle and the awareness of preventing chronic NCDs should be formed at an early age."

(Shanghai Star November 15, 2002)