WHO urges countries to scale up action on NCDs

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has highlighted the need for countries to scale up action on non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

As world leaders gather at the United Nations General Assembly to assess efforts made since 2011 in controlling NCDs like heart disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease, the new report on WHO NCD Country Profiles 2014 shows progress had been insufficient and uneven.

The report, launched on Thursday in New York by Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director General, and made available to the Ghana News Agency by Mr Dan Epstein, WHO Spokesperson, provides an updated overview of the NCDs situation including recent trends and government responses in 194 countries.

It reveals that 95 per cent of the countries that responded to the most recent survey have a designated Ministry of Health department or unit to tackle NCDs; and that half the world’s countries have a plan and a budget to address these diseases.

According to the report, the number of countries monitoring the main risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and harmful use of alcohol had doubled since 2010.

"I see no lack of commitment. I see a lack of capacity to act, especially in the developing world.

“Our latest data show that 85 per cent of premature deaths from NCDs occur in developing countries. The challenges presented by these diseases are enormous,” said Dr Chan.

The country profiles include estimates on the current burden and recent trends in NCD deaths and risk factors such as tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, high-blood pressure and obesity. The profiles also assess countries’ capacity to take action.

According to the report many of the 178 countries that responded to the most recent WHO survey have made progress in tackling the epidemic.

It said every year 38 million people (28 million in developing countries) die from NCDs, nearly 16 million of them prematurely, before they reach the age of 70.

It observed that the number of NCDs deaths had increased worldwide and in every region since 2000.

The report said NCDs deaths had increased the most in WHO’s South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions.

It said more than 190 governments had agreed to a WHO global action plan to halt the epidemic and reduce premature deaths from NCDs by 25 per cent by 2025.

World leaders are meeting at the United Nations in New York to review progress in recent years and discuss how to intensify action to reduce the burden of NCDs.

During the World Health Assembly in 2013, WHO’s 194-member states endorsed the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020.

The plan offers a menu of policy options for countries, global partners and other organisations which, when implemented collectively, will attain nine voluntary global targets, including that of a 25 per cent relative reduction in premature mortality from NCDs by 2025.

“WHO has established a global infrastructure to stop the rise in non-communicable diseases and is supporting countries to accelerate progress, particularly in less-developed countries that are already bearing the brunt of the NCD burden and need our assistance,” said Dr Oleg Chestnov, WHO Assistant Director-General for Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health.