Batoul Ahmadi - Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Faranak Farzadi - Health Services Management Research Group of Health Metrics Research Center, Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
Masoomeh Alimohammadian - Digestive Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Department of Human Ecology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Narges Rostami - Ministry of health and medical education, Tehran, Iran

Background: Women s health is a new worldwide agenda and is also a global health priority. To improve the health of women, adequate resources need to be allocated to the prevention, management and treatment of common diseases and their risk factors in women. The life expectancy in Iranian women has increased. Nevertheless, women’s longer lives are not necessarily healthy lives. Currently, they are facing a rising burden of some diseases especially non-communicable diseases (NCDs).Methods: Data were gathered from national registries and international organizations for the period 1990-2016 and then compared and analyzed. In this study we obtained causes of deaths and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) with special attention devoted to common diseases such as Ischemic heart disease (IHD), cancers, stroke, diabetes, hypertensive heart disease, and Alzheimer Results: The leading causes of deaths as percentage of all deaths, with annual change among women in 2016 as follows ischemic heart disease (25%, 1.1% ), cancers(14.64%), stroke (8.89%, 0.69%), hypertensive heart disease (6.1%, 2.29%), Alzheimer(5.98%, 3%), diabetes (5.1%, 4.78%). Breast cancer (2.17%, 3.76%), stomach cancer (1.99%, 0.71%), and lung cancer (1.44%, 2.68%) were the most fatal cancers. The five top causes of DALYs in 2016 were low back and neck pain (7.48%), IHD (7.01%), depression (5.39%), migraine (4.66%), and diabetes (4.29%). Several surveys have shown the most important risk factors of DALYs in women were overweight, obesity, high fasting plasma glucose, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet such as low fruits and vegetables, low bone mineral density.Conclusion: Iranian women’s health main concerns have been identified in this study. Despite increased life expectancy and health progress of Iranian women in the last decades, NCDs have become the main causes of women’s mortality and morbidities. Attention and responding to these challenges and women’s health priorities, requires a comprehensive approach, including implementation of effective interventions, policies and could also make a large contribution to promote the health equity

Women s health, burden of disease, non-communicable diseases, Iranian women