Non communicable diseases (NCDs), mainly cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and chronic lung disease, are responsible for roughly two out of every three deaths today. Other NCDs, including mental illness, accidents, renal disease and dental disease, kill or maim millions more. The World Health Organization (WHO) is now putting the final touches on a draft Action Plan…

As part of the outcome of the UN High Level Meeting on NCDs, the political declaration adopted acknowledged the special challenges faced by children and youth in preventing and treating non communicable diseases, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic lung disease (including asthma). It is…

The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine's lead article this issue is about non communicable diseases (NCDs). Authors Lisa Rosenbaum and Daniela Lamas review the existing evidence, and agree with WHO…

Public Health Institute (PHI) on September 19, 2011, held a satellite event at the UN High Level Meeting on Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs).  The panel discussion "Climate Change and NCDs: Creating a Climate for Health," was moderated by PHI Center for Climate and Global Health Director Dr. Cristina Tirado, and held at the UN Church Center in New York.…

Among the many issues to confront the global health community in tackling the rising tide of non communicable disease (NCDs) is how best to measure the extent of the epidemic. This has become an urgent issue in the short period remaining before the UN High Level Meeting on NCDs, scheduled to take place at the UN General Assembly on September 19-20, 2011.  Many advocates argue that without a concrete…

Charlotte Block of Project Hope organized a session on May 12 at the CORE Group in Baltimore on "Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) -- The Unheralded Global Epidemic."  In addition to Ms. Block, who spoke on the global reach of diabetes, the session also featured presentations by Dr. Vivien Tsu of PATH on cancers…

One of the many stories to emerge from the conference on non communicable diseases (NCDs) in the poorest of the poor held at Harvard Medical School over March 2-3, 2011 is the idea that there is no sharp dividing line between NCDs and infectious ones.  "This is a false dichotomy that must be rejected," said Jean Claude Mbanya, president of the International Diabetes Federation and professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Yaounde, Cameroon.…