CO UNTRIES START TO ACT ON NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES BUT NEED TO SPEED UP EFFORTS TO MEET GLOBAL COMMITMENTS

19 JULY 2016 | NEW YORK / GENEVA - A new WHO report highlights the need to intensify national action to meet the global targets governments have agreed to protect people from heart disease, cancers, diabetes, and lung diseases. Globally, these 4 noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) represent the largest cause of death in people aged under 70 years, posing a major threat to sustainable development.

The global survey, “Assessing national capacity for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases”, shows that some countries are making remarkable progress. A number of countries have put in place measures to protect people from exposure to tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. Some have created new financing opportunities to build strong public health systems by taxing tobacco products.

“Countries, including some of the poorest, are showing it is feasible to make progress and reduce premature deaths from NCDs. But that progress, particularly in low and middle-income countries, is insufficient and uneven,” says Dr Oleg Chestnov, Assistant Director-General at WHO.

“If countries continue on this trajectory, there is no way they will all meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target of reducing, by one-third, premature mortality from NCDs.”