UN Meeting to Address Growing Burden of Noncommunicable Diseases

Abstract

The annual worldwide number of new cancer cases will exceed 20 million by 2030. Currently, 7.6 million people die of cancer each year, more than deaths from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. And cancer is just one of the four major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) identified by the World Health Organization that account for nearly all global morbidity and mortality; the others are diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic lung disease. Collectively, NCDs caused 36 million, or 63%, of the 57 million deaths that occurred in 2008. Nine million of those people were younger than 60 years, and more than 90% were in developing countries. Now the United Nations is turning its attention to the growing problem of NCDs in a high-level meeting on September 19 – 20, as part of the opening of the 66th session of the General Assembly. “A high-level meeting is one in which all heads of state are invited and expected to participate; they can’t send a substitute unless that person is empowered to make a decision,” said John Seffrin, M.D., CEO of the American Cancer Society. Of all the high-level meetings held in the General Assembly’s 65-year history, the only other one to address a health-related issue was for HIV/AIDS in 2001, Seffrin noted. “This is our chance to make sure that the world and policymakers and leaders understand the gravity of the NCD burden in the 21stcentury, especially cancer.” NCDs are increasing in part because populations are aging, said Alan Alwan, M.D., assistant director general of noncommunicable diseases and mental health at the WHO. But their four common risk factors — tobacco use, sedentary living, poor diet, and unhealthy use of alcohol — also refl ect the growing trends of globalization and urbanization. “More and more people are now living in urban areas, and unfortunately, in many countries of the world, this urbanization is not planned, so there are huge numbers of people living in urban slums, with no facilities for physical activity or healthy diets. Smoking rates are high, and so you are at more risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and cancer,” Alwan said. Poverty and NCDs are linked in a vicious cycle, he continued. “Poverty exposes people to the behavioral risk factors for NCDs, and the resulting NCDs become an important driver of the downward spiral that leads to poverty. We now have clear evidence that the disability, illness, and