Committee Description:

In the 21st century, health is a shared responsibility, involving equitable access to essential care and collective defense against transnational threats. WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends. Its goal is to improve equity in health, reduce health risks, promote healthy lifestyles and settings, and respond to the underlying determinants of health.

Description of the topic:

A non communicable disease (NCD) is non-transmissible among people. Non-communicable diseases can result in either a rapid death or can have a slow progression. NCDS include heart disease, stroke, different types of cancer, asthma, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, etc. All these chronic diseases require constant care management.

History of the topic:

The Health World Organization Committee (WHO) establishes that non-communicable diseases are found to be more than 60% of people’s deaths causes worldwide, 40% of these people are from developing countries. Some risk factors are the environment people are exposed to. Nowadays air pollution, unhealthy food, etc. are the main factors that help people’s immunity to these kinds of diseases grow.

The WHO Global NCD Action Plan  2013-2020 provides a road map and policy options for Member States, WHO, involving international partners and private sector entities which, when implemented collectively, having 9 voluntary global targets, including that of a 25% relative reduction in premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases. This is planned to be completed by 2025.

Case Study:

80% of chronic disease deaths occur in low and middle income countries (places where most of the world’s population lives). The impact of this invisible epidemic is steadily growing. Chronic diseases and poverty are locked together in a vicious cycle. Chronic disease hinders economic development and worsens poverty. The poor are also more vulnerable, having more exposure to risks and less access to health services.

 

Points of view:

According to Dr. Dewan Shamsul Alam, head of the Chronic Non Communicable Diseases Unit, NCDs are becoming a big health problem, but not only in Bangladesh, all around the world. Also, unawareness still prevails. The NCDs are complex and are interconnected with many risk factors. Surveys have proven 99% of the adults in Bangladesh have at least one risk factor for developing NCDs.

The Department of Health and Human Services of the United States said that Chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the number one cause of death and disability in the world. This has made the USA concerned about the effect of NCDs on families, communities, and nations.

 

Current Situation:

Worldwide, NCDs kill over 35 million people each year, representing nearly two-thirds of the world’s deaths. More than 80 percent of NCD-related deaths are in low- and middle-income countries, and nearly a third of those deaths occur before age 60. NCDs are a growing public health emergency. NCDs cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars each year, and limit the activities of tens of millions more Americans. Low- and middle-income country economies are also set back by NCDs through increasing demands on health care systems and lost productivity. This rapidly changing health and disease profile has serious implications for poverty reduction and economic development. NCDs strangle macro-economic development and keep the bottom billion locked up in chronic poverty. NCDs have a severe impact on individuals, communities and countries.

NCDs in Low-and-middle-income country (LMICs) also put G20 nations at risk since we all benefit from healthy individuals and stable populations around the globe. 8 million people below the age of 60 die each year in LMICs from preventable causes, which include tobacco use, unhealthy diets, alchohol consumption, and physical inactivity. Lack of access to affordable medicines and health care services are also major causes of these preventable deaths.

Globally, the NCD burden will increase by 17% in the next ten years, and in the African region by 27%. The highest absolute number of deaths will be in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions.

 

Conclusions:
Chronic diseases today are the leading cause of death in the world. Global action is needed, now. Current evidence clearly demonstrates that non communicable diseases are preventable. These diseases can be effectively treated and controlled. A large percentage of NCDs are preventable through the reduction of their four main behavioral risk factors: tobacco use, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy diet. But there is a long way to go if we want to stop this phenomenon from growing.

References:

 

WHO (NA) Goals.Retrieved on October 23,2013 from: http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/about/goals/en/

http://apps.who.int/gb/archive/pdf_files/EB101/pdfangl/ang14.pdf

 

WHO (2013) The WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020. Retrieved on October 21,2013 from: http://www.who.int/nmh/en/

 

NCD Alliance (2013) The Global Epidemic. retrieved on october 21, 2013: http://www.ncdalliance.org/globalepidemic

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011) The Problem of Noncommunicable Diseases and CDC's Role in Combating Them. Retrieved on October 21, 2013: http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/ncd/overview.htm

WHO (2010) Global Status Report of non communicable diseases. Retrieved on October 21, 2013 from: http://www.who.int/nmh/publications/ncd_report_full_en.pdf

 

Shamsul, D, Abdul,K, & Jafar, K (NA). Non Communicable Diseases Forum. Retrieved in October 21, 2013 from: http://ncdf.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29:response-to-ncds-epidemic-where-bangladesh-stands&catid=9:uncategorised