rica, the number will jump by 24%.
According to a Harvard University study, NCDs will, over 20 years, cost the global economy over $30 trillion ($30,000,000,000,000) or 48% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) of the year 2010.
Representing the Union for International Cancer Control, Jordan’s Princess Dina Mired, director general of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation, was the keynote speaker at the General Assembly. She stated that 360 million people would die from these diseases over the next decade, while one billion people would die from tobacco use alone this century.
“There are 36 million people dying every year – not possibly, not maybe,” she said. “The United Nations has the responsibility of delivering the right punch in this fight.”
The General Assembly, attended by more than 30 heads of state and government and approximately 100 senior ministers and experts, studied the Secretary-General’s report on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases. The report noted that NCDs have a global impact, surpassing that of communicable diseases (Note 1) in every region of the world except Africa, but where the rate of such diseases is quickly rising. By 2030, NCDs are projected to cause nearly five times as many deaths as communicable diseases worldwide.
According to the report, the burden of these diseases goes beyond the fact that those countries most affected are the most populated. Unplanned urbanization, ageing populations and the globalization of trade and product marketing, particularly for tobacco, alcohol and food, have led to a rise in the risk factors of such diseases. What’s more, it states that the lack of healthcare capacity and social protection systems means that NCDs are more likely to cause illness and death at an earlier age.
The UN report does go on to suggest that the incidence of these chronic diseases could be significantly reduced and they could, in fact, be prevented, saving millions of lives and untold suffering, through proven and affordable measures that are often complementary to global health efforts already in place.
Steps range from price and tax measures to reduce tobacco consumption to curbing the extensive marketing to children, particularly on television, of foods and beverages that are high in saturated fats, sugars and salts.
Following examination of the report, participants at the two-day meeting adopted a Political Declaration calling for a multi-faceted campaign by governments, industry and communities to develop the plans needed to curb the risk factors of the four major groups of NCDs by 2013.
“Our collaboration is more than a public health necessity. Non-communicable diseases are a threat to development and hit the poor and vulnerable particularly hard, driving them deeper into poverty,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during his address to the General Assembly, adding that millions of families are driven into poverty each year when a family member becomes too weak to work, or when the cost of medicines and healthcare treatments overwhelm the family budget.
The Secretary-General also called on businesses to do their part, affirming his strong belief that the power of industry can improve the world. “There is a well-documented and shameful history of certain players in industry who ignored science, sometimes even their own research, and put health at risk to protect their own profits.”
Ki-moon went on to say that there are many industry giants who have acted responsibly and that everyone needs to be held accountable to root out the “disgraceful actions” of the few.
Noting that the rising prevalence, morbidity and mortality associated with NCDs can largely be prevented and controlled through collective and multisectoral methods by all member states and other relevant stakeholders, the declaration highlighted the need for universal national health coverage and strengthened international cooperation to assist developing countries. Finally, it called on the WHO, as the specialized UN agency for health and the forerunner of the global health effort, to set up a c