NCD Alliance

Tobacco giant Philip Morris is suing the Australian government over a new law making plain packaging mandatory for cigarettes from December 2012.

WASHINGTON, November 17, 2011 Heart disease, cancer, strokes, obesity, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death in the Caribbean and represent a rapidly increasing share of total health expenditure for countries in the region, says the World Bank.

Non-Communicable Diseases are a serious threat to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and are robbing society's funds that could be devoted to social and economic development, Vice-President John Landa Nkomo has said.

During last week's JSCO 2012 Annual Meeting, the 8th Asia Cancer Forum adopted a Declaration outlining its commitments to address cancer, in line with the recently adopted UN Political Declaration on NCDs. The Declaration was adopted at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Clinical Oncology which took place from 27 - 29 October 2011 under the theme: “Toward the goal: Finding the best way and Taking the first step”.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are threatening millions of lives unless major policy changes take effect, according to experts speaking at a press conference held in Lille, France as part of the 42nd Union World Conference on Lung Health.

Today is World Stroke Day. There are 15 million people who have a stroke each year. Every other second, an adult or a child, a man or a woman, old or young, suffers a stroke.

The NCD Alliance applauds the World Health Organization for convening the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health, coming to an end today in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The NCD Alliance congratulates the Government of Brazil for hosting the conference and for providing global leadership on the social determinants of health; and welcomes the adoption of the Rio Declaration as an important and comprehensive set of global commitments.

“…..New figures from the WHO Mental Health Atlas 2011 indicate that while the need for mental health care is large, with up to 25% of the population requiring it at some point in their lives, there is underinvestment in the sector. The Atlas shows average global spending on mental health is still less than US$ 3 per capita per year and as little as US$ 0.25 per person per year in low-income countries.

New York – The NCD Alliance, a network of more than 2,000 non-government organizations tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs), today welcomed two new studies aimed at helping decision makers in low- and middle-income countries reduce the growing burden of NCDs. 

Governments must use Summit momentum to agree ambitious targets to curb the epidemic; and are urged to start drafting costed national NCD plans immediately.