Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) refer to a series of slowly progressive, chronic (persistent) diseases that are not associated with any infectious agent, are not contagious, and are of long (usually lifelong) duration.

The main diseases covered within the scope of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases-CVD (e.g. coronary artery disease-CAD, stroke, peripheral artery disease etc.); cancers; chronic respiratory diseases (eg chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-COPD, asthma etc.); obesity and diabetes mellitus; neurocognitive disorders (e.g. dementia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease etc.); chronic psychiatric and mental problems (e.g. anxiety, depression, psychoses etc.); chronic kidney disease and chronic diseases of other systems (e.g. chronic autoinflammatory or autoimmune diseases involving more than one system, and chronic hematological problems, etc.). In addition, chronic diseases of genetic and/or metabolic origin (ie rare diseases) are also considered in the NCD category.

Physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, use of tobacco products and harmful alcohol use are major behavioral risk factors for NCDs. High blood pressure (hypertension), overweight and obesity, high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) and high blood lipids (hyperlipidemia) are also known to predispose to NCDs. Therefore, much attention should be paid to have and maintain a healthy lifestyle (i.e. a balanced diet, physical activity, and avoidance of tobacco products, excessive salt, and alcohol consumption) in order to prevent non-communicable diseases.