Sir George Alleyne - Closing Comments at UN Civil Society Interactive Hearing on NCDs My first words must be of thanks to the President of the General Assembly for the invitation to participate in this important hearing. I also wish to thank the Task Force and the NCD Alliance as well as the World Health Organization for their support.
As the dust settles on the civil society interactive hearing on noncommunicable diseases, the NCD Alliance highlights the following ten desired outcomes from the UN Summit on NCDs to be held in September: 1. Commit to a whole-of-government response through costed national plans for NCD prevention and treatment 2. Establish an NCDs Partnership, linked to WHO, to coordinate follow up action with member states, other UN and multilateral agencies, foundations, NGOs and private sector 3. Increase national and international resources for NCD prevention and treatment
On 16 June, attention of the NCD civil society movement was focused on the Informal interactive civil society hearingon the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, which took place at the UN in New York. For a webcast of the 16 June hearing click here
Tobacco control is key to addressing NCDs Tobacco use is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including heart disease and cancer, as well as chronic respiratory disease. With the World Health Organization’s World Health Statistics 2011 showing that 4 in 10 men and 1 in 11 women use tobacco, tobacco control is a top priority for reversing the epidemic of NCDs, especially in low-income countries where both tobacco use and NCDs are increasing.
Some 47 countries and 16 representatives of intergovernmental and civil society organizations spoke on the resolution on 21 May 2011. The resolution urges Member States to prepare for the UN General Assembly High-level Meeting on NCDs and be represented at the heads of state and government level. The resolution called for addressing the NCDs challenge through an action-oriented outcome document.
This year’s observance of World No Tobacco Day falls in the midst of preparations for September’s United Nations high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases. By controlling tobacco, we can go a long way towards addressing many of these chronic ailments, including cancer and heart disease. The use of tobacco, which is highly addictive, killed approximately 100 million people in the twentieth century, and unless we act, it could kill up to a billion in this century.
GENEVA, 13 May 2011 -- An increasing number of countries are facing a double burden of disease as the prevalence of risk factors for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases and cancers increase and many countries still struggle to reduce maternal and child deaths caused by infectious diseases, for the Millennium Development Goals, according to the World Health Statistics 2011 released by the World Health Organization (WHO) today.
