NCD Brief Fourteen – Hidden in plain sight

Hidden in plain sight: Projecting the burden of NCDs

Percept | January 2022

The high and increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has led to the recognition
of NCDs as a global public health emergency.1 In South Africa, this emergency is exacerbated by
the fact that, to date, much of the NCD burden has been hidden in plain sight: a large proportion
of individuals suffering from these conditions remain undiagnosed or are diagnosed very late in
their disease trajectory, once complications have already occurred. Historically, there has been a
strong focus on infectious diseases in the country, while the burden of NCDs silently grows. This has
contributed to the lack of reliable data that’s available on NCDs, as well as a limited understanding of
the true NCD burden on South Africa.