It's Time to make some serious progress on preventing NCDs.

If you missed the recent News Item from the United Nations on the new High-Profile Panel tasked to take on Non-Communicable Diseases, then please take a few minutes to have a look at the following post.

In his headline comments, President Tabaré Vázquez, President of Uruguay and co-chair of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Independent Global High-level Commission on NCDs says “NCDs are the world’s leading avoidable killers, but the world is not doing enough to prevent and control them,” ... “We have to ask ourselves if we want to condemn future generations from dying too young, and living lives of ill health and lost opportunity. The answer clearly is ‘no.’ But there is so much we can do to safeguard and care for people, from protecting everyone from tobacco, harmful use of alcohol, and unhealthy foods and sugary drinks, to giving people the health services they need to stop NCDs in their tracks,” he added:

But for many Public Health Professionals like me who have been following the growing challenge of NCDs for several decades, for some countries we are close to midnight on the NCDs Doomsday Clock. Its more than well past the time to make some dramatic changes.

In the Pacific Islands where I recently worked for nearly 7 years, the impact and burden of NCDs is dramatic. Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, mental illness and respiratory illness are having such a negative impact that the Pacific Island Health Officers' Association declared a state of emergency nearly a decade ago.

The then President of PIHOA, Dr Dr. Stevenson Kuartei, the Palau Minister of Health stated:

"These islands have some of the highest rates of non-communicable disease in the world. Diabetes, heart diseases, strokes, cancer and other NCDs are killing off Pacific peoples, placing a significant burden on their daily functionality, and threatening the national security of these island countries and territories".

Across the Pacific the very high rates of obesity, early onset and uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes and heart attacks and strokes in very young people are affecting generations. Hospital wards are closed to set up dialysis centers, men in their 20's are having heart attacks and health professionals in some countries see lower limb amputations as a normal right of passage. Far too many young women are dying from cervical cancer and suicide rates in young people are depressingly high. Many elderly people are having to care for their grandchildren as their children have succumbed to NCDs.

But that's enough depressing information. Its certainly not new information.

I want to share the same enthusiasm of Bill Gates in his recent post of the video by Steven Pinker. I want to believe that humanity is, and will, fight back.

I want to hope that President Tabaré Vázquez, and other members of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Independent Global High-level Commission on NCDs will take some Bold, Innovative solutions.

But I want things to happen in my lifetime.

Its well past the time to think about making some significant decisions. The young people of the Pacific want to be around to take on the challenge of climate change. To do so, they will need help to deal with the broadening challenge of Non-Communicable Diseases.