WHO: Countries Need To Step It Up On Noncommunicable Disease Commitments

Despite “remarkable” progress by some countries on addressing noncommunicable diseases like cancer and diabetes, there is a need to accelerate efforts in order to meet agreed global commitments, the World Health Organization said this week.

Four noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) – heart disease, cancers, diabetes and lung diseases – are the largest global cause of death in people under 70 years old, according to WHO.

A press release and the report are available here.

The WHO reported on a global survey entitled, “Assessing national capacity for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases.” The survey shows that “some countries are making remarkable progress,” it said. “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.”

But the progress is “insufficient and uneven,” especially in low and middle-income countries, WHO Assistant Director-General Oleg Chestnov said in the release. If things don’t change, there is “no way” they will meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), under which countries agreed to a target of reducing premature mortality from NCDs by one-third.

The report lists key actions required, such as:

• Catalytic funding through domestic, bilateral and multilateral channels to develop essential NCD prevention and control programmes in many low- and middle-income countries to strengthen capacities for primary prevention, screening, and surveillance.
• Greater attention to policymaking in sectors beyond health that have a bearing on NCDs, such as trade and marketing of unhealthy or harmful products.
• Stronger multisectoral governance mechanisms are needed to implement SDG target 3.4 on NCDs through whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches.
• More widespread operationalizing of national NCD plans – in particular plans to address unhealthy diets.
• More widespread establishment of surveillance systems to run national risk factor surveys at least every 5 years to track targets, indicators, and progress.
• Ensuring health systems can respond to the health-care needs of people with NCDs by providing basic services such as detection, treatment and care for those with cancer. Cancer screening programmes should become more systematic and reach more people in need.
• Better access for people suffering end-stage NCDs to palliative care in the public health system, specifically in primary health care and in community or home-based care.

 

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