UN To Hold Non-Communicable Disease Summit

Rowaca Cancer Group – Sierra Leone supports the United Nations General Assembly move to hold a Non-communicable Disease (NCD) Summit involving Heads of State, in September 2011.

Kamara made this disclosure on Tuesday while talking to members of the media at his 17 Liverpool Street office.

The assembly is to address the threat posed by NCDs to low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

“Rowaca Cancer Group – Sierra Leone congratulates the unanimous decision of the UN Assemble in making LMICs a priority in their decision making,” says RCG-SL Team Leader, Alpha B. Kamara.

Kamara said the decision was also congratulated by the World Heart Federation, International Diabetes Federation (IDF), International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).

Kamara said the alliance of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) represents the four diseases - cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases - that are responsible for 35 million annual deaths globally, 80% of which occur in LMICs. The alliance has been at the forefront of advocacy efforts to ensure the rising burden of NCDs was addressed in the global health and development agendas.

The World Heart Federation, IDF, UICC and The Union together represent 882 member associations in more than 170 countries. By mobilizing their member networks and working with the World Health Organization's (WHO) NCDnet as well as other key organizations such as the Global Alliance on Respiratory Diseases and the Framework Convention Alliance they are one step closer to ensuring NCDs get the urgent attention they deserve, including a greater national focus, an integrated health-systems approach and allocation of essential funding.

This will result in millions of lives being saved and a reversal in damaging social and economic effects.

The UN NCD Summit involving Heads of State to be held in September 2011, will bring together government representatives from both overseas aid donor countries and LMICs with public health experts from around the world.

They will discuss solutions to the growing danger posed by NCDs, and agree what action needs to be taken. The NCD alliance will support WHO in catalysing this process. There have only been 28 such summits in UN history which highlights the significance of the decision and the magnitude of the problem. The NCD alliance requests that member states invest the necessary resources to guarantee successful implementation.

  The WHO estimates that global deaths from NCDs will continue to rise over the next 10 years, with the African region expected to see the highest relative increase (27%).

An increasing body of evidence shows that the impact of NCDs on individuals, communities, and countries is undermining the achievement of the Millennium