HEADS OF STATE COMMIT TO LEAD RESPONSE TO BEAT NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Heads of state and government today committed to 13 new steps to tackle noncommunicable diseases including cancers, heart and lung diseases, stroke, and diabetes, and to promote mental health and well-being.
“Today, world leaders have taken a set of landmark steps to beat NCDs,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “These add up to a historic opportunity to promote health, save lives, and grow economies.”
World leaders agreed to take responsibility themselves for their countries’ effort to prevent and treat NCDs. They also agreed that these efforts should include policy, legislative and regulatory measures, including fiscal measures to protect people from tobacco use, unhealthy diets, and the harmful use of alcohol, for example by restricting alcohol advertising, and banning smoking.