NCD Alliance

This year’s observance of World No Tobacco Day falls in the midst of preparations for September’s United Nations high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases. By controlling tobacco, we can go a long way towards addressing many of these chronic ailments, including cancer and heart disease. The use of tobacco, which is highly addictive, killed approximately 100 million people in the twentieth century, and unless we act, it could kill up to a billion in this century.

GENEVA, 13 May 2011 -- An increasing number of countries are facing a double burden of disease as the prevalence of risk factors for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases and cancers increase and many countries still struggle to reduce maternal and child deaths caused by infectious diseases, for the Millennium Development Goals, according to the World Health Statistics 2011 released by the World Health Organization (WHO) today.

Getting asthma onto the global agenda for health and poverty reduction Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world, currently affecting an estimated 300 million people worldwide. It has been identified as a major global public health problem and international guidelines exist. However, in low- and middle-income countries, where the majority of the world's asthmatics live, most cases of asthma are undiagnosed, untreated or mismanaged.

Moscow - Noncommunicable diseases are the leading killer today and are on the increase, the first WHO Global status report on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) launched today confirms. In 2008, 36.1 million people died from conditions such as heart disease, strokes, chronic lung diseases, cancers and diabetes. Nearly 80% of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries. Noncommunicable diseases a two-punch blow to development

Patient advocates have called for greater involvement in the design and delivery of strategies to prevent and manage non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and chronic diseases, at the International Alliance of Patients' Organizations (IAPO) African Regional Network Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa. The meeting was held with the support of two South African patient groups: the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) and the Patients' Health Alliance of NGOs (PHANGO).

Last week IDF, one of the founding federations of the NCD Alliance, launched an Advocacy Toolkit for the UN Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). ‘Calling the World to Action on Diabetes – An Advocacy Toolkit’ aims to bridge global to local diabetes advocacy through information, guidance and key tools and resources.

The first Africa Regional Ministerial Consultation on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) ended in the Congolese capital on Wednesday (6 April) with the adoption of the Brazzaville Declaration on NCDs. The Declaration urged urgent action by various stakeholders to address major NCDs and priority conditions which represent “a significant challenge” to people in the African region: cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases, diseases of blood disorder (in particular sickle cell disease), mental health, violence and injuries.

A landmark global alliance between leading scientists and the NCD Alliance brings together evidence from a 5-year collaboration with nearly 100 of the world's leading NCD experts and proposes a short-list of five priority interventions to tackle this increasing global crisis: Reducing tobacco and salt use, improving diets and physical activity, reducing hazardous alcohol intake, and achieving universal access to essential drugs and technologies.