WHO Global Conference Sounds Alarm On Non-Communicable Diseases As
One Of The Major Health Challenges Of Our Time
Need To Accelerate
Action Or Fail To Meet 2030 Target To Prevent Millions Of Premature
Deaths
The
message was clear, based on the current rate of decline in premature
mortality among persons aged between 30-70, the world will not meet
its 2030 goal to reduce these deaths by one third.
And
the problem is huge, made up mostly of deaths due to cardiovascular
diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.
Burden of Disease
According to the WHO,
in
2015, NCDs were responsible for 40 million deaths, representing 70% of
all deaths worldwide. A large proportion of deaths were premature:
over 15 million people (38% of NCD deaths and 27% of all global
deaths) died between the ages of 30 and 70. 85% of premature deaths
from NCDs occurred in developing countries, including 41% in
lower-middle-income countries where the probability of dying from an
NCD between the ages of 30 and 70 is up to four times higher than in
developed countries. Most of these 15 million premature deaths from
NCDs could have been prevented or delayed.
The
Montevideo Roadmap emerging from a recent conference in Montevideo
represents “a bold commitment by governments to intensify action to
protect people from the harms of NCDs,” according to the President of
Uruguay, a co-organizer of the meeting. He added “the human and
economic costs are far too great to ignore.”
Barriers
Some of the key barriers to further progress are
difficult to tackle and include countering the influence of the
private sector on governments which prioritize trade over public
health goals, and the lack of high-level political leadership that
ensures that health in all policies is adopted as a strategy. This
latter barrier is important since many of the main drivers of ill
health lie outside the control of health ministries, systems, and
professionals, according to conference organizers.
Risk Factors
The main risk factors identified in the report are
tobacco use, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy
diets, and air pollution. The bulk of NCD preventable deaths could be
prevented by addressing these risk factors.
Recommendations
The Roadmap’s
recommendations are organized around 9 categories, including:
·
Reinvigorate political action
·
Enable
health systems to respond more effectively to NCDs
·
Increase significantly the
financing of national NCD responses and international cooperation
·
Increase
efforts to engage sectors beyond health
·
Reinforce the role of non-State actors
·
Seek
measures to address the negative impact of products and environmental
factors harmful for health
·
Strengthen the contribution and accountability of the private sector
and other non-State actors
·
Continue
relying on WHO leadership and key role in the global response to NCDs
·
Act in
unity
To
read the Roadmap document and the full list of recommended actions,
visit:
https://tinyurl.com/y9384adw
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