South-East Asia commits to act

Bangladesh and 10 other nations of the WHO South-East Asia region yesterday pledged action against non-communicable diseases that kill some 8.5 million people per year in the region.

At the opening day of the five-day 69th regional committee meeting in Colombo, the member nations adopted the “Colombo declaration” which calls for strengthening delivery of services for these diseases at the primary health care level.

“This is a critical moment for health systems and the people they serve across the South-East Asia Region. Noncommunicable diseases [NCDs] are already taking an unacceptable toll on populations, with the burden projected to rise in coming years.

“To avert this possibility, services for these diseases must be made available at the primary health care level, and high-risk populations must be provided all opportunities to access screening and treatment,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia, said.

The members expressed serious concern at the burden of noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.

There is no specific data about Bangladesh, but in the region two out of three deaths are caused by NCDs and nearly half of such deaths occur in the 30-70 age group, WHO data shows.

According to Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011, 53 percent of the population older than 35 years have high blood pressure in the country, while one-third of the population is either diabetic or will get the disease in future. Also, there are about 12 lakh cancer patients in Bangladesh, of whom some 1.5 lakh die each year.

As part of the declaration yesterday, health ministers pledged to undertake targeted screening for early diagnosis, as well as to increase health guidance and counselling to promote healthy choices and self-care.