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Gro Harlem Brundtland, MD
Director-General
World Health Organization

JAMA. 2002;288:1974.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The world is living dangerously, either because it has too little choice or because it is making the wrong choices. On one side are more than a billion people who are dangerously short of the food, water, and security they need to live. Developing countries still face a high and highly concentrated burden from poverty, undernutrition, unsafe sex, unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene, iron deficiency, and indoor smoke from solid fuels. On the opposite side of the spectrum lies overconsumption with its risks of hypertension, high cholesterol levels, tobacco use and alcohol abuse, and obesity.

The risk factors traditionally associated with wealthy countries are becoming increasingly prevalent in developing countries, where they create a second burden on top of the undernutrition and infectious diseases that long have afflicted poorer countries.

The World Health Report 2002: Reducing Risks to Health, Promoting Healthy Life, examines the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Director-General
World Health Organization