The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) of WHO has some of the highest rates of non-communicable disease (NCD) in the world. Six of the countries with the highest rates of diabetes are in the region, half of the women are overweight or obese, and physical activity rates are the lowest in the world. Yet the region […]
Most of my work is concerned with non-communicable disease (NCD) in low and middle income countries, so I’ve got to know a fair bit about the subject. But yesterday I spent an afternoon at Imperial College listening to a series of short presentations on NCD in low middle income countries (LMIC), and I learnt a […]
As country delegations prepare for the 65th session of the World Health Assembly next week, the reform of the institution itself is only one topic on a list of 20 agenda items and 52 sub-items to be considered by the organisation’s governing bodies. Setting priorities and fully funding those priorities has been a challenge for the […]
Nestlé has just announced a three year partnership with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF)—an umbrella organisation representing national diabetes societies from around the world— as part of its contribution to the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Such diseases include cardiovascular disease, cancer respiratory illness and diabetes. […]
Monday 19 September. Day one 7.10 I arrive at the junction of 47 Street East and 2nd Avenue to meet the Pepsico people who are holding a breakfast meeting in the UN dining room. I meet several cronies that I haven’t seen for a long while and reflect traitorously that global health is maybe like […]
Saturday 17 September. Day minus two 17.20 Arrive in New York. A bigger queue than ever at immigration. Do they really want visitors? After an hour I reach the booth. “When were you in Pakistan?” “Just over a year ago.” “What do you do?” “I run a programme in developing countries working on heart disease […]
What’s the mood among delegates on the eve of the UN summit on non-communicable diseases as they gather in hotel bars and the confusion of side events in New York City? Well, earlier in the day I went on a hike through Central Park with about 50 others in an event organised by the NCD […]
After months of negotiations, lobbying from industry and NGOs and public health experts, international governments have finally agreed the political declaration that will form the spine of the UN’s summit on non-communicable diseases later this month. The BMJ has seen a copy of the final declaration and for those who have been involved there are […]
Things are not going well with the UN high level meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that will take place in New York in a month’s time. The aim was to have completed negotiations on the outcomes document before the UN closed for its summer break, but this wasn’t achieved. The member states causing the most […]
In a previous blog I mentioned that I attended the Institute of Medicine’s workshop on country level decision making for control of chronic diseases, which was held on 19-21 July at the House of Sweden in Washington, DC. However, I had promised more details of the meeting and then promptly disappeared for two weeks of vacation […]