Minister calls for global fund to prevent NCDs

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena suggested the establishment of a global fund to prevent and control Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena addressing the session

He was addressing the high level meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases in New York.

He is among the Sri Lankan delegates attending the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Referring to Sri Lanka's national policies in preventing and controlling NCDs, including the setting up of a separate NCD Control Unit in the Health Ministry, Minister Sirisena said Sri Lanka has made significant improvements in the recent past in the healthcare sector.

According to Health Ministry spokesperson W.M.D.Vanninayake, the minister had expressed confidence that with the political commitment and the priority given to this vital area of concern in the national healthcare system, Sri Lanka would be a leading country in the region for implementing an effective NCD programme nationwide. He had also said Sri Lanka's objective was to reduce premature mortality due to chronic NCDs by two percent annually over the next 10 years.

Minister Sirisena had pointed out that NCDs such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease are the cause of about 60 percent of deaths in the world, and 90 percent of them are recorded from the low and middle income countries. Major risk factors include unhealthy diet, smoking, alcohol and physical inactivity.