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…

TAKE A LOOK…

Cross-sector collaboration is one of the latest buzz phrases in public health.  However, it is rare to hear of technology sector collaborations between healthy built environment advocates and technology types such as computer programmers and electrical engineers. Health care  has taken advantage of…

In the United States, the Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer.  The well-organized among us have switched out double-pane windows and planted veggies we can cook on the grill wheeled to the patio for the first "eat & greet" of the season. Good weather,…

In January, the Institute of Medicine released the report Living Well with Chronic Illness: A Call for Public Health Action.  The report may strike some…

The relationship between health and education is well-documented; however, public health limits its engagement with the education sector to activities related to interventions that contribute directly to population health measures such as immunizations and more recently…

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…

FoodNavigator USA is my one-stop-shop for food and beverage industry points of view on public health interventions.  The commentary is predictable, but what is most interesting is the "logic" supporting positions taken by the website's contributers.  But an opinion piece on the Cornell systematic review of studies concerning food environments and eating was a bit of a shock.  Caroline…

"The Corn Refiners Association represents the corn refining (wet milling) industry and has launched a national educational campaign to provide science-based facts about high fructose corn syrup to the public"

The food refining industry is moving forward with what appears to be a well-financed and sophisticated campaign to protect the reputation of high fructose corn syrup. …

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.…

Public Health Institute is participating in the UN High Level Session on Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York. PHI's President and CEO Mary Pittman, DrPH, Center for Climate Change and Global Health Director Cristina Tirado, PhD, and Special Advisor for Global Health Policy and Development Jeff Meer are registered observers at the conference. In…

The August 26, 2011 issue of The Lancet is dedicated to the global obesity epidemic. The issue was timed to coincide with the upcoming United Nations high-level  meeting concerning non-communicable diseases. The first high profile global meeting dedicated to obesity was sponsored by the…

A University of Alberta study utilized the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS)  and BMI studied 8,143 people who participate in two nutrition surveys conducted in the United States. Reseachers found that individuals classified as Stage 1 or 2 had a substantially lower risk of dying 20 years post survey than those classified as Stage 3 or greater. EOSS describes risk factors (blood pressure, lipid levels, blood glucose) in five stages for obese individuals.  Stage 0 indicates the patient…

As has been widely reported, including here and here, negotiations at the United Nations have stalled over an "outcomes document" that is to be approved by a High Level Meeting on Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York on September 20.  Negotiations that were to have been concluded by now…

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…

I never cease to be amazed by Americans.  The former Obama administration operative & current head man in your Windy City, Rahm Emanuel, is championing buses that sell healthy food in what are called food desserts.  If I am not mistaken, a similar effort was tried in New York with a much smaller mode of transport-food carts- selling food in front of those dreadful corner "grocery" stores.  The healthy food cart owners were beset upon by unhappy store owners and dared not return.   Read…

There is agreement among public health and medical practitioners that the chronic disease epidemic will affect many facets of American life.  Local health departments (LHDs) need to re-invent themselves in order to become organizations capable of influencing policies and practices in sectors ranging from transportation to food marketing.  In addition,  LHDs need new strategies and tactics to move the social determinants of health agenda forward in several arenas.  A challenging fiscal…

Approximately 350 representatives of civil society participated in a one-day session in New York on June 13, to provide verbal input into the UN High Level Meeting on non communicable diseases (NCDs). Convened by the President of the General Assembly and staffed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the session was supposed to be an opportunity for United Nations agencies and member states to hear…

One missing piece in the policy debates around non communicable diseases (NCDs) is an accurate account of their economic impact.  In order for policy makers to begin to grapple with the epidemic sweeping the globe, they need to have a fairly good idea what illnesses like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic lung disease and cancer are having on economies from Bujumbura to Beijing. 

Thanks to some research sponsored by the World…

It is hard to find a life that has not been touched in some way by a non communicable disease (NCD).  Whether it's a mother who has breast cancer, a father with diabetes, or a cousin with asthma, virtually all of us have personal knowledge of what it is like to live with -- and sometimes die with -- a chronic illness.  That basic fact makes the upcoming UN High Level Meeting on NCDs this September of…