Statement to the 68th Session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean

Statement to the 68th Session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean

With 55 million adults aged 20 to 79 years affected by diabetes in the region, countries urgently need to act to prevent, manage and treat diabetes and its associated risk factors if we are to achieve the associated global nutrition targets.

Specifically, obesity causes 80-85% of type 2 diabetes. We will only be able to halt the rising prevalence of diabetes if obesity is controlled. However, the likelihood of the 2025 NCD plan targets for zero increase in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes being met are very low. According to our Missing the Targets report, no country in the region is on track to meet WHO obesity targets. Similarly, our Global Atlas on Childhood Obesity predicts that, by 2030, the number of children aged 5-19 years living with obesity in the EMRO region could reach 32 million. In the current economic climate, the rising costs of obesity and obesity-related disease are an imperative to act: it is estimated that the cost of high BMI to health services in the region is US$ 20 billion per year, nearly 14% of all healthcare expenditure. Meanwhile, in the context of COVID-19, these facts and figures have a new urgency. COVID-19 has exposed fatal weaknesses in health systems severely disrupted access to treatments in the EMRO region.

Since the start of the pandemic, treatment and support for the chronic NCDs prevalent among people with obesity/overweight, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease clinics, have receded, exacerbating risk of strokes and ‘heart attacks’. The social, economic, and specifically racial, determinants of health have been identified as the root cause of health disparities and poor outcomes related to COVID-19.  While 17 countries (out of 22) in the Region have a national operational policy, strategy or action plan in place for diabetes, only 59% of countries in the region have vertical programmes, policies, strategies and action plans addressing overweight and obesity.

In response to agenda item 3(d), we call on Member States in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to focus on scaling up national responses to diabetes, ensuring that policies and efforts to address diabetes are coherent, consistent and aligned with the related regional roadmaps. We urge Member States in the Region to:

• Recognise that obesity and other NCDs increase the risk and likely worsen the outcomes of COVID-19, and ensure that people living with these diseases have access to testing and are provided with care early
• Advocate for people-centred care and ensure that people living with NCDs are included in the development and evaluations of future interventions and national plans and responses for diabetes prevention and control
• Increase education and awareness that obesity is a disease and not a sign of affluence
• Ensure that nutritionally adequate food is made available for all, particularly for vulnerable populations
• Ensure availability of infrastructure to practice and implement healthy lifestyle for everyone. This includes access to green spaces to take part in outdoor activities, access to fresh fruits and vegetables and addressing mental health via existing primary care structures and facilities

With global obesity targets catastrophically off-track, other health targets remain in jeopardy. The goal for WHO’s target for 1 billion people to live healthier lives by 2023 will not be met without action on obesity.