WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, JOSEPH SCOZZARI
Last month (September 19-20), the General Assembly of the United Nations held a historic High-Level Meeting to discuss noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), an often overlooked burden on the world’s populations and economies. Only the second of its kind for a public health issue, the meeting was an unparalleled opportunity to put NCDs—including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and chronic respiratory disease—on the global health agenda. The successful meeting drew an impressive 34 heads of state, and member states unanimously adopted a political declaration that included important language to accelerate effective programs and resources to address NCDs.
NCDs are the most frequent causes of death in every region of the world except Africa, accounting for about 63 percent of global deaths in 2008. The total number of ...
