Bad habits like drinking, smoking and overeating that were once the preserve of the rich are taking an increasing hold in developing nations, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said today.
But in a report on one of its largest research projects to date, the Geneva-based organisation said life expectancy could be raised by up to a decade by judiciously targeted actions.
It said the top 10 killers, in order of deadliness, were: malnourishment, unsafe sex, high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol, bad water and poor sanitation, iron deficiency, smoke inhalation from indoor fires, high cholesterol and obesity.
"While none of these is new, the fact that tobacco, alcohol and cholesterol rank so high in a global survey is a big surprise," Mr Chris Morris, author of the WHO's World Health Report 2002, said.
"This report is a signpost on the road for public health policy," he said by telephone. "There is no longer a risk or disease that is the exclusive preserve of the rich countries."
The report said the top 10 killers accounted for more than one-third of the 56 million deaths globally each year.
In the developing countries, 170 million children were malnourished and three million a year were dying as a result. But in both developed and developing nations more than one billion people were overweight of whom 300 million were clinically obese and at least 500,000 were dying each year.
It said HIV/AIDS was now the world's fourth biggest killer, with 40 million people infected worldwide of whom 70 per cent were in Africa.
"Globally, about 2.9 million deaths a year are attributable to unsafe sex, most of these deaths occurring in Africa," the report said.
Smoking and alcohol were also major killers, although figures for the number of lives they claimed were not immediately available.
Also high on the killer list was polluted water, poor sanitation and lack of hygiene which together accounted for 1.7 million deaths a year - mostly among children.