Combating NCDs to be key agenda at WHO summit next week

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) Combating non-communicablediseases which cause over 8 million deaths per year in theSouth East Asian region will be the top agenda when Healthministers of 11 countries, including India, meet next week ata crucial WHO summit to set health priorities for the region. The Health ministers will attend the 69th WHO RegionalCommittee meeting, the highest policy making body of theglobal health organisation in the region, at Sri Lanka fromSetember 5-9. "NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetesand chronic respiratory diseases, which kill nearly 8.5million people every year and are the leading cause of deathsin the region, will be a key agenda at the meeting," WHO SouthEast Asia said in a statement. Accelerating improvements in health in the era ofSustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the focus on themost vulnerable, will be another key agenda of the meeting. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe willinaugurate the meeting while WHO Director General MargaretChan, WHO South-East Asia Regional Director Poonam KhetrapalSingh and other WHO experts from health ministries of membercountries will participate in the meeting. WHO SEARO said during the meeting there will be a greaterpush for time-bound elimination of diseases as the region haseliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus. The individual countries too have witnessed major winssuch as elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV andsyphilis by Thailand, elimination of lymphatic filariasis byMaldives and Sri Lanka, yaws by India and malaria by Maldives. Tackling anti-microbial resistance (AMR) as a prioritywith a multi-sectoral approach involving food, agriculture andanimal sectors, will also be deliberated at the meeting. "Ending preventable maternal and child mortality,addressing the double burden of malnutrition and health ofmigrant populations will also be discussed and focussed uponat the meeting," WHO SEARO statement said. WHO’s recent emergency reforms and further strengtheningof core capacities by countries under the International HealthRegulations for responding to health emergencies will be otherkey areas to be discussed and emphasised upon. WHO’s South-East Asia Region comprises of Bangladesh,Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India,Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand andTimor-Leste. PTI TDS AAR RGAAR