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June 07: 2018 || ά.
A new report from
the World Health
Organisation:WHO
Independent
High-Level
Commission on
Non-Communicable
Diseases:NCDs calls
for urgent action to
address chronic
diseases and mental
health disorders. It
demands high-level
political commitment
and the immediate
scaling up of
actions to address
the epidemic of
NCDs, the world’s
leading causes of
death and ill
health.
Collectively,
cancer, diabetes,
lung and heart
diseases kill 41
million people
annually, accounting
for 71% of all
deaths globally, 15
million of which
occur between the
ages of 30 and 70
years.
The report
focuses attention on
growing but, often,
neglected,
challenges like
mental disorders and
obesity. President
of Uruguay, Dr
Tabaré Vázquez,
called on world
leaders to redouble
efforts to meet the
Sustainable
Development Goals
target to reduce
premature death from
NCDs by one-third by
2030 and to promote
mental health and
wellbeing.
‘’Preserving and
improving people’s
quality of life is a
way of enhancing
human dignity in
order to make
progress in terms of
economic growth,
social justice and
human coexistence.”
said Dr Vázquez, who
presented the report
to WHO
Director-General Dr
Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus in
Geneva earlier this
week.
“Health is
essential for peace
and democracy. It is
not a matter of
spending a lot but
of making good
investments.”
The Commission
makes six
recommendations in
its report: i: Heads
of States and
Governments should
take responsibility
for the NCD agenda,
rather than
delegating it to
ministers of health
alone, as it
requires
collaboration and
cooperation across
many sectors; ii:
Governments should
identify and
implement a specific
set of priorities
within the overall
NCD and mental
health agenda, based
on public health
needs.
iii:
Governments should
reorient health
systems to include
NCDs prevention and
control and mental
health services in
their universal
health coverage
policies and plans;
iv: Governments
should increase
effective
regulation,
appropriate
engagement with the
private sector,
academia, civil
society and
communities.
v: Governments
and the
international
community should
develop a new
economic paradigm
for funding actions
on NCDs and mental
health and vi:
Governments need to
strengthen
accountability to
their citizens for
action on NCDs and
simplify existing
international
accountability
mechanisms.
“We know the
problem and we have
the solutions but
unless we increase
financing for NCDs
and demand all
stakeholders be held
responsible for
delivering on their
promises, we won’t
be able to
accelerate
progress.” said
Commission Co-chair
Dr Sania Nishtar.
“The NCDs epidemic
has exploded in low
and middle income
countries over the
last two decades. We
need to move quickly
to save lives,
prevent needless
suffering, and keep
fragile health
systems from
collapsing.”
Fulfilling the
promise of universal
health coverage, to
ensure all people
everywhere can
access quality
health services
without suffering
financial hardship,
is one of WHO’s top
priorities. The
Commission’s report
will help guide
countries as they
make progress toward
health for all and
tackle both NCDs and
infectious killers.
“WHO was
founded 70 years ago
on the conviction
that health is a
human right to be
enjoyed by all
people, and not a
privilege for the
few.” WHO
Director-General Dr
Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus. “The
recommendations of
this report are an
important step
towards realizing
that right by
preventing the
suffering and death
caused by
noncommunicable
diseases.”
By calling on
Heads of States and
Governments to take
ultimate
responsibility for
NCDs, the report,
which was, also,
published
simultaneously in
the medical journal
The Lancet,
recognises the need
to ensure that
health ministries
have the influence
they require to
ensure the issue is
backed with the
political will and
funding it merits.
Delivering the
report to the WHO
Director-General is
the first activity
of the Commission,
which will continue
to provide
high-level support
to the NCD community
by catalysing action
and financing,
especially, in
countries.
On September
27, 2018, the United
Nations General
Assembly will host
the Third High-level
Meeting on NCDs in
New York. The
Commission’s report
will help advise WHO
as it prepares for
this crucial
occasion.
The
Commission’s
Co-chairs include
the presidents of
Finland, Sri Lanka
and Uruguay, the
Minister of
Healthcare of the
Russian Federation
and Dr Sania
Nishtar, a leading
NCDs expert and
advocate and a
former federal
minister of health
from Pakistan. The
Commission comprises
health and
development leaders
from governments,
civil society and
business.
Non-Communicable
Diseases:NCDs,
including,
cardiovascular
diseases, cancer,
diabetes, chronic
respiratory diseases
and mental
disorders, tend to
be of long duration
and are the result
of a combination of
genetic,
physiological,
environmental and
behavioural factors.
Tobacco use,
physical inactivity,
the harmful use of
alcohol and
unhealthy diets all
increase the risk of
dying from a NCD.
Detection,
screening and
treatment of NCDs,
as well as,
palliative care, are
key components of
the response to
NCDs. WHO recognises
that air pollution
is a critical risk
factor for NCDs.
Read WHO
Independent
High-level
Commission on NCDs
Report at
who.int/ncds/management/time-to-deliver/en
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