WHO celebrates 75th anniversary
On 7 April 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) will mark its 75th anniversary, along with its 194 Member States and other partners, by calling for a renewed drive for health equity. Over the last 75 years, WHO has been working to protect people from key risks that lead to chronic diseases, such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy diets - that lead to diseases and conditions such as diabetes, cancer, stroke, and associated trauma and suffering, accounting for 74% of all deaths worldwide.
WHO’s pioneering work — including the first global strategy for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in 2000, the Political Declaration on NCDs in 2011, the NCDs Global Action Plan (2013-2021), the Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative in 2018 and the Hypertension Guideline in 2021 — provide life-saving guidance to countries so that millions more people live longer in good health.
Access to NCD medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted access to medicines for noncommunicable diseases
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in the treatment and care of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). During the pandemic, people living with cancer, heart diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and other NCDs experienced difficulties in accessing their routine medicines.
"Many have had their treatment disrupted, which can lead to serious health consequences. It is therefore very important not only that treatment and care for people living with NCDs are included in national responses and preparedness plans, but that innovative ways are found to implement those plans." — Dr Bente Mikkelsen, Director of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases, WHO.
Globally, more is spent on medicines for NCDs than any other therapeutic class. There is a need to continue to assess the successes and failures of the global supply chain toward improved NCD medicine access and services as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses.
Access to NCD medicines: emergent issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and key structural factors
WHO published this report to highlight the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to noncommunicable disease (NCD) medicines, and the policies and strategies implemented by countries to anticipate and mitigate stresses across NCD medicine supply chain. The full range of upstream and downstream impacts are investigated, including: manufacturing; procurement, importation and last mile delivery; patient-level effects through affordability and availability; and the effects on NCD medicine availability by category of disease.
For more details, contact Bashier Enoos: enoosb@who.int
Sporting goods industry and WHO join forces to promote increased physical activity and sport
WHO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement with the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) to help align and reinforce private sector support to increase physical activity and community sport participation to improve global health.
This first agreement with an international sport business association, seeks to amplify public health messages on physical activity, create mechanisms to share knowledge and best practices, and reinforce the physical activity workforce to help communities be more active. Regular physical activity and sport helps prevent heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancers and other noncommunicable diseases. It also improves well-being – and is particularly effective for managing the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The work will have a special focus on enabling youth, girls and women and people living with disabilities have more access to sport and physical activity opportunities.
For more details, contact Ruediger Kerch: krechr@who.int
Unitaid-sponsored programme screened over one million women for cervical cancer in low- and middle-income countries
Over 1 million women in 14 low-and middle-income countries have been screened for cervical cancer through an integrated prevention programme, delivered by country governments in collaboration with global health agency Unitaid, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and Expertise France in partnership with Jhpiego and the Union for International Cancer Control. Over 80% of women who have screened positive for cervical pre-cancer have received treatment.
This is part of a broader effort to develop scalable models for cervical cancer prevention that is adapted to lower income settings across Africa, Asia, and Latin America where nine in ten deaths from cervical cancer occur. The program has seen countries train thousands of health workers and significantly expand the number of medical facilities offering life-saving screening and preventive treatment.
For more details, contact Bente Mikkelsen: mikkelsenb@who.int
Regional updates
New WHO Signature Initiative paves the way for better heart health
Jill Farrington, Regional Medical Officer, Cardiovascular diseases and Diabetes and Kremlin Wickramasinghe, Regional Adviser, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at WHO's Euro office — joined the International Medical Forum of the Eurasian Economic Union session on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) hosted in Kyrgyzstan. They presented the WHO CVD Signature Initiative to reduce CVD burden through hypertension prevention and decreasing salt intake.
High blood pressure is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and strokes, and CVDs are the leading cause of death in the WHO European Region.The aim of the new Signature Initiative is to reduce inequalities in the burden of CVDs and the prevalence of high blood pressure using an integrated approach. This involves improving hypertension control in primary care and implementing population-wide salt-reduction strategies.
For more details, contact Gauden Galea: galeag@who.int
Creating an age-friendly, enabling environment for social participation
For decades, Japan has been promoting healthy aging. Currently, approximately 35 million people older than 65 make up 28% of Japan’s population. In Wakabadai Danchi Housing Complex in Kanagawa prefecture, the percentage of older adults is also growing. Residents of Wakabadai, with support from Kanagawa prefecture government, are establishing a community that includes and benefits everyone. Older adults, being an essential part of a multi-generational community, have worked with younger residents to improve social and physical environments for healthy ageing.
For more details, please contact Hiromasa Okayasu okayasuhi@who.int
Comparing taxes on alcoholic beverages in the Region of the Americas
This paper is a descriptive analysis using a method developed by PAHO and adapted from the WHO´s tobacco tax monitoring. Data were collected by surveying ministries of finance and reviewing tax legislation in effect as of November 2020 in the Region of the Americas. The results show that 33 countries in the Americas (94%) apply excise taxes on alcoholic beverages, with Argentina and Uruguay not applying them to wine. There is significant heterogeneity in excise tax design across countries and beverage types. Only a third of amount-specific excise taxes are regularly adjusted to avoid erosion. Regional median excise taxes represent the highest share of the price for spirits (21.4%) and the lowest for wine (11.0%).
Fore more details, write to hennisa@paho.org
Regional Expert Meeting on Policy Action for Healthy Diets
The countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region face the double burden of malnutrition — where undernutrition co-exists with increasingly common overweight and obesity. The prevalence of overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is particularly high in the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Policy action is needed to ensure that food systems deliver healthy diets and create healthier food environments. Thus, in order to accelerate policy action for healthy diets in the GCC Member States, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region and the Ministry of Health and Prevention, United Arab Emirates (UAE), organized a hybrid expert meeting on policy action for healthy diets, with more focus on UAE and GCC countries from 28 February – 1 March 2023 in Dubai, UAE.
For more details, please contact Asmus Hammerich: hammericha@who.int
NCD priorities in children and adolescents in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
The Sultanate of Oman hosted a regional workshop to highlight the importance of addressing Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) in children and adolescents, from 27 February – 1 March 2023. The workshop was jointly organised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centre for Global Child Health and aimed to advocate for NCD priorities in children and adolescents in the EMR, across the continuum of care. The outcomes of the workshop will shift the paradigm in addressing NCD in children not only in Oman but for the entire region.
For more details, please contact Asmus Hammerich: hammericha@who.int
Events
Launch of the new Knowledge Action Portal on NCDs (KAP) and consultation on the draft GCM Engagement Strategy
This online event hosted by WHO's Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of NCDs (GCM/NCD) will mark the launch of the new Knowledge Action Portal on NCDs (KAP) and the consultative process on the draft engagement strategy for GCM Participants. Since 2018, the Knowledge Action Portal on NCDs (KAP) has been serving as the GCM/NCD’s main knowledge sharing and community platform dedicated to enhancing NCD prevention and control through multisectoral and multistakeholder collaboration. Following a major website redesign, a brand-new and improved version of the KAP is ready to be relaunched this spring, serving the GCM/NCD and its Participants as a novel platform to link key knowledge resources, share country action and impact stories on NCD prevention and control, promote events, host thematic communities of practice, or engage with fellow GCM/NCD Participants.
For more details, contact Guy Fones: fonesg@who.int
NCD Hard Talks webinar: Stakeholders have done their homework, but where are the international and national investments on prevention and management of NCDs and mental health?
Due to competing and pressing priorities, countries face limited options to invest in addressing NCDs and MH conditions. The unique nature of NCDs and of many MH conditions as chronic and life-long conditions deserves special attention within the context of both horizontal and vertical equity considerations. Repositioning NCDs and mental health as not just a major public health issue – but also as a development issue – is critical to changing perceptions and increasing the appetite of ministries of finance to reprioritize domestic funding accordingly. What can countries do now to move from generating evidence, to achieving impact?
Join this NCD Hard Talk session to learn from experts on key health financing challenges for NCDs and MHC, lessons from country experiences and a frank discussion on emerging solutions.
For more details, please contact Alarcos Cieza: ciezaa@who.int
London 2023 Health in Prisons and Places of Detention International Conference
The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe are jointly organising a conference “Making prisons and places of detention resilient to infectious diseases, including epidemic and pandemic threats” on 20-21 June 2023 in London, United Kingdom.
It is expected that the discussions held by worldwide experts over these two days will contribute to generate considerations that may guide Member States to better prepare, prevent, detect, and respond to infectious diseases in places of detention and to better connect prison health systems with the wider health system.
For more details, please contact Dr Carina Ferreira-Borges: ferreiraborgesc@who.int
Please send your updates for inclusion in the next edition of the NCDs Newsflash: johannesa@who.int
