India, Oct. 22 -- AstraZeneca will extend funding for its award-winning Young Health Programme for a further five years with a pledge of $35m (£28m) to help to educate young people on the steps they can take to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases.

These diseases, which include cancer, diabetes, heart disease and heart failure, are responsible for the majority of deaths worldwide, and over two-thirds of those deaths can be directly attributed to behaviour that begins in adolescence.

The Young Health Programme was launched in 2010 as the focus of AstraZeneca's global philanthropy. It is a disease prevention programme designed to reach adolescents in under-resourced communities and work with them to reduce risk behaviours inc...