Democracy and implementation of non-communicable disease policies

Abstract

In their Article in The Lancet Global Health, Luke Allen and colleagues1 found weak evidence for a positive association between democracy and the implementation of polices recommended by WHO to reduce the burden of premature non-communicable disease mortality.1 As Allen and colleagues note, that finding is in contrast with our research on the positive association between democracy and population health outcomes on non-communicable diseases.2 Accordingly, here we build on the important analysis of Allen and colleagues by closely examining the association between democracy and implementation of non-communicable disease policy.