NCD and Rheumatic Fever

Sent by Marianne Burle de Figueiredo

Update from the 66th World Health Assembly Side event on addressing inequalities in NCDs: a focus on rheumatic heart disease  Convened by the governments of New Zealand and South Africa and the World Heart Federation, health officials from New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Fiji and Rwanda discussed the vital need for countries to integrate rheumatic fever (RF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) prevention and control into national action plans. The event was held on 22 May and was chaired by our president Dr K. Srinath Reddy and moderated by our incoming Vice-President, Dr Kingsley Akinroye. The World Health Organization was also represented through Dr Shanthi Mendis, Department of NCD Management, who emphasized that those countries where RHD is endemic need to ensure that their national disease action plans also include targets on RHD so that the many needless deaths that occur in children each year could be avoided.  Read the press release “Governments hold long-overdue meeting on reducing early death from rheumatic heart disease” NCD Alliance Post-2015 Report Launched at WHA Side Event On 20 May, the NCD Alliance convened global leaders from governments, the United Nations, civil society, and the private sector at an event entitled The World We Want: Health and NCDs in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The event was very well attended, with an impressive number of government delegations, and provided the opportunity for a constructive discussion on the challenges and opportunities of integrating NCDs in the post-2015 agenda. Our President, Dr K. Srinath Reddy represented the World Heart Federation and the Public Health Foundation of India on the panelWatch the webcast The event also served as the launch of the new NCD Alliance report, Healthy Planet, Healthy People: The NCD Alliance Vision for Health in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. This report, informed by a task team of experts in NCD prevention and control, provides our recommendations on a framework for health in post-2015, including specific goals, targets and indicators. We encourage you to use this report in your advocacy on post-2015 and welcome your thoughts and feedback. Updates on agenda item 13: non-communicable diseases Around 45 Member States made statements, many reinforcing the importance of taking decisive action this week on the pillars of the global NCD architecture. A drafting group was established, co-chaired by USA and Pakistan and strongly represented by a member of the World Heart Federation network Dr Sania Nishtar, to discuss outstanding issues on the Global NCD Action Plan and negotiate the text of the draft omnibus resolution on NCDs. As previously stated, the NCD omnibus resolution looks to adopt the Global Monitoring Framework on NCDs (GMF), endorse theGlobal NCD Action Plan 2013-2020 (GAP), and agree in principle to establishing a global coordination mechanism (GCM). We hope to see successful passage of this ambitious resolution by the end of the day and we will keep you informed of progress.