Non-Communicable Diseases

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), mainly cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, obesity and chronic respiratory diseases, represent a leading threat to human health and human development in today’s world. These five NCD factors are the world’s leading causes of death and kill an estimated 35 million people each year - 60% of all deaths globally – with 80% in low and middle income countries. WHO estimates that total deaths from non-communicable diseases will increase by a further 17% over the next 10 years.NCDs are related to the interaction of various genetic, environmental and especially lifestyle factors, including smoking, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity. NCDs are often prevalent in disadvantaged socio-economic populations and areas and represent a major obstacle to the economic development of many countries. WHO predicts the greatest increase in incidence of NCDs in the African region, with a 27% rise, and the Eastern Mediterranean region with 25% rise.  The highest absolute number of deaths will occur in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions.

 

WHPA Health Improvement Card

People are increasingly exposed to a multiplicity of environmental and social influences, which frequently leads them to adopt unhealthy lifestyles/ behaviours, resulting in a higher risk of NCDs and poor health.

The WHPA Health Improvement Card is a simple, universal educational tool , which will allow everyone to assess and record their lifestyle/behavioural and biometric risk factors. It also enables individuals and their health professional to take a proactive approach to prevent NCDs and associated disability.

The information obtained through using the Health Improvement Card can help the individual and health professional develop specific interventions to address that individuals risk factors and actively improve their health and well being.The Health Improvment Card exists of a card with eight risk factors and two background documents with further information for health professionals and patients and public.

The Health Improvement Card is also viewed as an advocacy tool that might foster socially accountable health systems.

 

UN Summits on NCD and SDH

The United Nations has been urged by the World Medical Association to change its strategy towards non communicable diseases by widening its activities to include other preventable diseases.

In a speech at the UN's High Level summit on NCDs in New York in September 2011, the WMA President Dr. Wonchat Subhachaturas said he had concerns about the present narrow disease-orientated approach to non communicable diseases being adopted by the UN.

Furthermore, the burden of disease from NCDs is often multiple and chronic, and the illness and suffering of the individual numerous - only a combined, primary care based, collaborative and whole-person view combining NCD and SDH can succeed.

The way forward is to emphasize access to effective health care as a human right. Defining health success as a mere statistical challenge deprives individuals of the health care they are entitled to. We are deeply concerned that the current discussion, especially disease targets, reduces health care to very limited technical provisions. This approach forgets the very important, person-centred care and people-centred public health care approaches. These are vital to all and currently absent from far too many health systems.

 

The World Medical Association has welcomed the global agreement on social determinants at the United Nations Conference in Rio de Janeiro in October 2011. WMA advocates for a complete approach that links NCDs with social and economic determinants of health, conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, and the influences of society.

 

Fit For School Project

In 2009, the WMA amended its Declaration of Ottawa to foster the protection of children. With the Fit for School' project WMA has an implementation activity to increase the health status of children. The German Development Aid Agency GIZ together with the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) and WMA are developing the ‘fit for school course', which aims to promote and facilitate effective school health programmes worldwide through building of conceptual, implementation, and management capacity with governments, international organisations and NGOs in low- and middle-income countries.

The course is developed in a comprehensive yet modular way allowing for adaptation to different target audiences and country settings. It will cover a broad range of topics related to effective school health programmes, from concept development to implementation, from child health to evidence-based interventions, and from day-to-day management to evaluation and monitoring with a strong practical approach. The course content is applicable to different international settings. The course is based on the Fit for School model, which was internationally awarded by World Bank, UNDP and WHO. The first course was held in the Philippines in April 2011.

 

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