MDGs: chronic diseases are not on the agenda

The Lancet:
Valentin Fuster and Janet Voûte

"2005 marks the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the UN's Millennium Declaration, signed by 189 countries and translated into eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be accomplished by the year 2015. The medical and public-health communities should rejoice that these eight goals include three specifically focused on health. There is a growing recognition worldwide that the time has come to fulfil the long-standing pledge to make health services available for all.1 The three explicit health goals elaborated in 2000 were: to reduce child mortality by two-thirds relative to 1990; to improve maternal health, including reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters relative to 1990; and to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. But, in 2000, and again during a ten-taskforce review in 2005, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other chronic diseases are not mentioned. This omission can, and must, be rectified."/.../