...comprehensive smoke-free air laws in public buildings have been estimated to result in a saving of $10 billion annually in health-care costs by eliminating exposure to second-hand smoke.9 Reducing sodium in the food supply to 1500 mg per day could result in $26·2 billion in US health-care savings annually.10 Community-based programmes to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and prevent smoking can provide a return on investment of $5·60 for every dollar spent within 5 years.11 The cost of implementing prevention programmes in low-income and middle-income countries is less than $0·40 per person and a package of public health behavioural interventions is projected to cost only $0·70 per person in China, for example, far less than projected costs of NCDs.5,12 Further investments in research, development, and evaluation of new approaches to mitigate the effects of NCDs are also needed to ensure effective investment of resources by public and private entities.