|
19 April 2012 : WHPA comments on WHO discussion paper on the Global monitoring framework for the prevention and control of NCDs
We very much appreciate the shift from 10 individual NCD indicators and targets to a comprehensive monitoring framework approach.
In several letters and meetings over the last month, we raised our concern not to restrict the NCD strategy to a limited number of diseases, but to include other areas, notably mental health, musculoskeletal diseases and oral health. It is critical to adopt such a holistic approach based on common risk factors. This approach, incidentally, would be equally applicable to communicable diseases.
We are very pleased to see that the new document corresponds to this holistic approach by focusing on mortality as a main indicator and underlining the need of national registration systems to record death and the cause of death. This not only adds value to NCDs, it also allows monitoring and planning for all diseases.
However with only mortality as a main indicator, not enough emphasis is put on prevention. In NCDs, the development of disease is taking place in phases: an unhealthy lifestyle becomes manifest, health conditions deteriorate and end in death. NCD prevention either aims to avoid illness in the first place or to prevent or reduce further progression of the existing disease…
Read full WHPA intervention on NCDs 
21 January 2012: Health professions call for international law against falsified and counterfeit medical products
Presenting an intervention on Substandard/Spurious/Falsely-Labelled/Falsified/Counterfeit Medical Products (SSFFC) medicines at the WHO Executive Board meeting, the International Pharmaceutical Federation, representing WHPA, called for an expert group to report back to the next EB and WHA in 2013 on the feasibility of establishing a public health treaty on combating SSFFC medicines, based on the model of theFramework Convention on Tobacco Control. (See full text here) 
19 January 2012: Health professions present NCD intervention at WHO Executive Board meeting
WHPA, speaking for 26 million health professionals worldwide, urged WHO and Member States not to lose sight of person-centred care and people-centred public health, when considering noncommunicable disease targets, indicators and a global monitoring system.
Read full WHPA intervention on NCDs  |