Agenda Item 7: Follow-up to the political declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases
This statement was delivered by the World Heart Federation at the 156th session of the WHO Executive Board
Honourable Chair, Distinguished delegates,
Diabetes is a leading cause of stroke, kidney diseases, oral diseases, and CVD – the world’s #1 killer. These co-morbidities place a heavy burden on individuals, families, and economies. Diabetes particularly threatens economic advancement in LMICs, where approximately 80% of people with diabetes live.
We thank the Director-General for the report and call on Member States to
- Address social and commercial determinants of health by enacting policies to regulate marketing of unhealthy foods;
- Integrate diabetes and CVD prevention, diagnostics, and management into UHC benefit packages;
- Implement WHO PEN, HEARTS, and PEN-Plus technical packages;
- Increase access to effective and quality products, including insulin;
- Scale up efforts to implement the Global Diabetes Compact; and
- Take advantage of the opportunity for a strong actionable Political Declaration at this year’s HLM.
WHF invites you to review the recommendations outlined in our Roadmap for Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes, and pledges to support your implementation of policies to reduce the burden of diabetes and CVD.
