World leaders assemble for UN non-communicable diseases summit

06.09.2011 [14:21]
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Baku, September 6 (AZERTAC). World leaders, government representatives and non-governmental organizations gather for the first United Nations General Assembly Non-communicable Disease Summit. The aim is a global strategy to address the four most prominent non-communicable diseases (NCDs): cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes. Low- and middle-income countries now see some 80 per cent of premature deaths from NCDs, many of which were once associated with high living, the Azerbaijan Diabetes Society, the member of the International Diabetes Federation, said in a press release.

The organizers state that UN summits have the power to change the global health agenda. They see the United Nations 2001 HIV/AIDS Summit as a pivotal event in the global response to HIV/AIDS.

The World Heart Federation, International Diabetes Federation (IDF), Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease have formed an alliance to ensure that the rising burden of NCDs is addressed in global health and development agendas. They want to see a greater national focus on the four diseases, an integrated health-systems approach and allocation of essential funding. The NCD alliance, representing 882 member associations in more than 170 countries, will work in conjunction with the World Health Organization.

NGOs working against alcohol abuse and smoking want these issues tackled at the summit as well. Both are shown to contribute heavily to NCDs. The World Lung Foundation recently launched the 15000 A Day campaign and web site to raise awareness at the summit of the need to give tobacco the attention it deserves as one of the main factors of NCD deaths.

The WHO estimates that global deaths from NCDs will continue to rise over the next 10 years, with the African region expected to see the highest relative increase -- 27 per cent. An increasing body of evidence shows that the impact of NCDs on individuals, communities, and countries is undermining the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the alliance notes. The omission of NCD indicators from the MDGs has been a critical barrier to securing donor funding for NCDs.

The summit will seek a global commitment to prevent NCDs, resources for NCD interventions, governments to be accountable on NCD progress and inclusion of NCDs in the UN’s next Millennium Development Goals, slated for 2015.

World leaders assemble for UN non-communicable diseases summit

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