Chronic diseases: global action must match global evidence

The next 12 months are seen as an unprecedented opportunity to change the conversation of global health, to rewrite the political manifesto for health to include one of the most neglected—and yet most important—categories of death and disability.

Abstract

In September, 2011, the UN will hold its first High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on chronic non-communicable diseases in New York. Billed as a once in a generation opportunity to put chronic diseases on global and national agendas, the UN meeting could achieve what this year's Millennium Development Goal Summit achieved—the launch of coherent strategies for action, securing broad political commitment, winning pledges of financing, and providing a stage for powerful international advocacy. 1 Alleyne G Stuckler D Alwan A The hope and promise of the UN Resolution on noncommunicable disease. Global Health. 2010; 6: 15 Crossref PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar The Series of papers we launch today is our contribution to preparations for the September meeting. We see the next 12 months as an unprecedented opportunity to change the conversation of global health, to rewrite the political manifesto for health to include one of the most neglected—and yet most important—categories of death and disability. Raising the priority of preventing chronic diseases: a political processChronic diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and chronic obstructive respiratory diseases, are neglected globally despite growing awareness of the serious burden that they cause. Global and national policies have failed to stop, and in many cases have contributed to, the chronic disease pandemic. Low-cost and highly effective solutions for the prevention of chronic diseases are readily available; the failure to respond is now a political, rather than a technical issue. Full-Text PDF Health, agricultural, and economic effects of adoption of healthy diet recommendationsTransition to diets that are high in saturated fat and sugar has caused a global public health concern, as the pattern of food consumption is a major modifiable risk factor for chronic non-communicable diseases. Although agri-food systems are intimately associated with this transition, agriculture and health sectors are largely disconnected in their priorities, policy, and analysis, with neither side considering the complex inter-relation between agri-trade, patterns of food consumption, health, and development. Full-Text PDF Tackling of unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and obesity: health effects and cost-effectivenessThe obesity epidemic is spreading to low-income and middle-income countries as a result of new dietary habits and sedentary ways of life, fuelling chronic diseases and premature mortality. In this report we present an assessment of public health strategies designed to tackle behavioural risk factors for chronic diseases that are closely linked with obesity, including aspects of diet and physical inactivity, in Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. England was included for comparative purposes. Full-Text PDF Prevention and management of chronic disease: a litmus test for health-systems strengthening in low-income and middle-income countriesNational health systems need strengthening if they are to meet the growing challenge of chronic diseases in low-income and middle-income countries. By application of an accepted health-systems framework to the evidence, we report that the factors that limit countries' capacity to implement proven strategies for chronic diseases relate to the way in which health systems are designed and function. Substantial constraints are apparent across each of the six key health-systems components of health financing, governance, health workforce, health information, medical products and technologies, and health-service delivery. Full-Text PDF Monitoring and surveillance of chronic non-communicable diseases: progress and capacity in high-burden countriesThe burden of chronic, non-communicable diseases in low-income and middle-income countries is increasing. We outline a framework for monitoring of such diseases and review the mortality burden and the capacity of countries to respond to them. We show data from WHO data sources and published work for prevalence of tobacco use, overweight, and cause-specific mortality in 23 low-income and middle-income countries with a high burden of non-communicable disease. Data for national capacity for chronic disease prevention and control were generated from a global assessment that was done in WHO member states in 2009–10. Full-Text PDF