NCD Alliance Event: Time For Action Against Noncommunicable Diseases

It might be said it is a “golden moment” for fighting noncommunicable diseases. There have never been as many side events on noncommunicable diseases during the World Health Assembly as this year, according to speakers at an event of the NCD Alliance this week.

The panel discussion Success Factors for NCDs: Pathways to Accelerate Progress was held on 22 May. Speakers from several countries, including Sri Lanka, Canada and Lithuania, exchanged their experiences in relation to noncommunicable diseases in a panel discussion. The focus of the discussion was on pathways to accelerate progress in relation to noncommunicable diseases.

Several initiatives such as plain packaging of tobacco products, food labelling and taxation on cigarettes and sugar were discussed as progress. Several speakers emphasised the importance of the support of a country’s health ministry for successful prevention of noncommunicable diseases. The panel highlighted the lack of a global response to alcohol consumption as well as the high pressure different industries exercise on policymakers.

Among the messages of the event were that it is time for action, as there is tremendous evidence for noncommunicable diseases, and that partnerships and coalitions need to be formed to address the problem of noncommunicable diseases. A lot of social mobilisation is required and we all have to play a role, concluded Richard Horton, the moderator of the panel.

Also attending the event was a representative of JamboMama!, a smartphone application of the non-profit association Smart Access to Health for All (SAHFA) which connects qualified healthcare workers with expectant mothers in isolated villages in low income countries.

Elise De Geyter is an intern at Intellectual Property Watch and a candidate for the LLM Intellectual Property and Technology Law at the National University of Singapore (class 2017).

 

Image Credits: NCD Alliance