NCD Alliance

 New York Times

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

Diesel fumes cause lung cancer, the World Health Organization declared Tuesday, and experts said they were more carcinogenic than secondhand cigarette smoke.

The W.H.O. decision, the first to elevate diesel to the “known carcinogen” level, may eventually affect some American workers who are heavily exposed to exhaust. It is particularly relevant to poor countries, where trucks, generators, and farm and factory machinery routinely belch clouds of sooty smoke and fill the air with sulfurous particulates.

Jun 04, Colombo: In an effort to combat the high incidences of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country, the Health Ministry of Sri Lanka has taken measures to improve facilities in secondary level hospitals with the assistance of the Government of Japan.

The cabinet on a proposal made by Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena has given approval to use a Japanese funded project of 3.935 billion Yen (US$ 50 million) to enhance the non-communicable disease management through improvement of facilities in secondary level hospitals and drug security.

A NEW REPORT* published today (Thursday) reveals how tobacco companies worked to prevent the strengthening of European tobacco legislation such as  improvements to tobacco labelling and the removal of misleading terms such as ‘light’ and ‘mild’.

The report was commissioned by the Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) through a Cancer Research UK grant and carried out by academic researchers at the University of Bath, University of Edinburgh, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. It is being released on World No Tobacco Day which is themed “Tobacco Industry Interference”.

For an overview of key World No Tobacco Day Resources, visit the homepage of the Framework Convention Alliance here.

GENEVA, 31 May – The global tobacco industry is expanding its war against public health, beyond national courts and into the international arena. Governments must understand these new threats, and stand together to defend their sovereignty and public health.

NGOs applaud government leadership on non-communicable disease death reduction

Message to NCD Alliance Networks: http://goo.gl/YGbHF

Press Release:

Geneva - 16 May 2012 – The World Health Statistics 2012 report, released today, puts the spotlight on the growing problem of the noncommunicable diseases burden.

Reuters- Kate Kelland

Health data released on Wednesday provided the clearest evidence to date of the spread of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease from developed nations to poorer regions such as Africa, as lifestyles and diets there change.

The United Nations data showed one in three adults worldwide has raised blood pressure - the cause of around half of all deaths from stroke and heart disease - and the condition affects almost half the adult population in some countries in Africa.

                                               Statement to the 45th Session of the
                                   UN Commission on Population and Development

Kenya Prime Minister and Danish Trade Minister launch multibillion diabetes treatment and management pilot project in Dagoretti

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 12 – The Government is reviewing the National Health policy to effectively factor the needs of patients suffering from non communicable diseases.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced that the government will in the next few months launch a new policy whose key objective will focus on the social and economic implication of non communicable ailments in the wake of increased cases of such diseases.

The upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) is an opportune time to outline NCDs and health as a critical development issue. The NCD Alliance has called for any outcome document from Rio+20 to include the prior recognition of health within the context of sustainable development, health as fundamental to sustainable development, and the need to integrate health policies into policies and programs designed to address the emerging challenges identified by the Rio+20 process.