Statement to the 72nd Session of the Regional Committee for Africa
Statement to the 72nd Session of the Regional Committee for Africa
World Obesity welcomes the regional strategy to address severe NCDs. Obesity is an important NCD as well as a risk factor which, once low across the African region, is rapidly rising, especially amongst women.
The new global obesity recommendations and accompanying Acceleration Plan adopted at this year's WHA provide a framework to address obesity in health systems, and we congratulate those countries in the region which are considering or have already put themselves forward as front-runner countries. This regional strategy on severe NCDs should incorporate some of these obesity recommendations, including on healthcare professional training, screening in primary care and the use of multi-disciplinary teams. This is needed in parallel to reducing the double burden of malnutrition within nutrition and NCD prevention programmes.
Action now to prevent obesity and other NCDs is needed to reduce the potential impact that obesity will have on health service needs in the region.
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Statement to the 72nd Session of the Regional Committee for Africa
Agenda Item 7. Pen-plus – a regional strategy to address severe noncommunicable diseases at first-level referral health facilities
Download (128.6 KB)Noncommunicable diseases strategy for the WHO African Region adopted
Over 33 member states provided inputs and comments to the strategy. The Health Ministers at RC 72 underscored the importance of integrating essential NCD services into primary health care and unanimously adopted the strategy. You can read more about this here.