In fact, say demographers, we're seeing something unprecedented in less developed countries: populations getting old before they get rich.
In less developed regions where population-based screening is not routine and populations are much younger on average, such as in Africa and the Middle East, a higher proportion of patients are diagnosed below the age of 40, reaching as high as 20% [ 2, 3].
It is also predicted that more than 7.5 billion inhabitants will be in the less developed countries while the population of the least developed countries is projected to reach 1.7 billion (United Nations 2014).
Furthermore, it highlights the importance and complexities of financing climate change adaptation, and concludes these will continue to constrain the adaptive capacity of vulnerable city populations in the less developed countries of the South, unless developed global partners cooperate.
In the last decade, urban populations in less developed regions increased by a third.
Whereas health is a universal human right [ 147], disadvantaged populations in less developed countries are trapped in the vicious circle of poverty, lack of education, social inequalities, tropical diseases, and poor health [ 148, 149].
There are four MDGs to which medical research can contribute by focusing on the health needs of disadvantaged populations in less developed countries: reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; and develop a global partnership for development.
The vast majority of social contact surveys have been conducted in developed western countries yet the majority of the world's population live in less developed countries where family structures, socio-cultural norms, population mobility and the home and work environment may differ in important ways from Europe.
Although the proportion of older people is still low in less developed regions, the pace of population ageing is even more rapid.
Stomach, liver, oesophageal and cervical cancers incidence rates are higher in populations living in less developed regions than in more developed regions [ 1].
