NCD Alliance

3 May 2013,  Paris, France – “It’s time to control asthma”, according to this year’s World Asthma Day theme, but the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) says the low availability and the prohibitive cost of asthma inhalers continue to be serious challenges in low- and middle-income countries.  With the vast majority of the 235 million people affected by asthma living in such limited-resource settings, The Union established the Asthma Drug Facility (ADF) to help overcome these barriers. 

Tobacco control advocates in Senegal are working hard to ensure a strong tobacco control law that includes smoke-free pubic places and ad bans passes this year.

Click here to learn more and sign the petition to support them.

The results of a survey conducted by the Union and the State TB Cell in October 2011 has shown the rise of diabetes in TB patients. With a sample of 552 TB patients the prevalence of diabetes was 44% and 84% of these were not properly treated for diabetes.

This has led the Health Department to integrate the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) with the State’s Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD).

For the article please click here

The article highlights the lack of priority and investment of BRICS on healthcare spending and infrastructure to tackle the rise of NCDs within their own countries.

Click here to jump to the article.

All cigarette packs in Fiji will carry graphic warnings to depict the dangers of smoking by October.

Read more via the Fiji Times

A group of organizations has united in an alliance to fight non-communicable diseases in Nepal. According to The Himalayan Times, "the alliance will advocate a policy on NCDs with the government."

Read more via The Himalayan Times

"Arogya World and Nokia India today reported that they have enrolled one million people into mDiabetes, the groundbreaking diabetes prevention mHealth initiative in India."

Read the full release via Arogya World

The South African Minister of Health has signed into legislation a reduction of salt policy in certain foods including processed and imported foods.

This comes as a victory to one of the members of the NCD Alliance Network, the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa since it played a significant advocacy role in promoting the salt reduction platform. It was a member of the salt working group that advised the Department of Health.

Washington, D.C. – In partnership with The NCD Alliance and as a representative of the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Roundtable, LIVESTRONG Foundation Director of Health Policy, Loyce Pace Bass, MPH, testified today on Capitol Hill in favor of sustained U.S. funding to combat the growing threat from non-communicable diseases.

Download the testimony here (via the NCD Roundtable website)

In a speech to attendees at the global thematic consultation in Gaborone, Botswana on health in the post-2015 development agenda, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake encouraged experts to be ambitious in setting goals and unified in committing to deliver against them. Lake cited the agreed "25 by 25" NCD goal as one example for consideration in the future development framework.

Click here for the full speech, via UNICEF.