260m chronic patients cause 85% of deaths

China has around 260 million people suffering from chronic diseases which are responsible 85 percent of all deaths, Beijing Times reported Tuesday citing a Ministry of Health report.

There are over 200 million patients with hypertension, 120 million people overweight and 97 million suffering from diabetes in China, according to the ministry. In 80 percent of Chinese families, the per capita consumption of salt and edible oil exceeds the healthy limit.

In the next 20 years, the number of patients over 40 with chronic disease is estimated to increase by up to 200 percent.

The ministry has formulated a chronic disease prevention plan that aims to reduce the per capita salt intake to fewer than nine grams, cut the adult smoking rate to lower than 25 percent and limit the adult overweight ratio to lower than 12 percent.