Fighting noncommunicable diseases isn’t as straightforward as tackling polio or malaria.
Although there are factors that complicate health professionals’ efforts to combat infectious diseases — health workers providing anti-polio vaccines in Pakistan have been killed by militants, for example — vaccines are often enough to prevent incidences.
This is not the case with NCDs. Insufficient physical activity, when coupled with poor eating habits, could lead to obesity, which cannot be prevented with a vaccine.