U.N. member states must face health, economic impacts of NCDs

In this Huffington Post opinion piece outlining many facts and statistics surrounding non-communicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide, Susan Blumenthal, public health editor of the Huffington Post and former assistant surgeon general, along with Katherine Warren and Lauren Macherelli, who previously worked at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, where Blumenthal is director of the health and medicine program, write, "The world is at a crossroads when it comes to the chronic disease epidemic and its enormous health and economic impacts."

They say the U.N. and its member states "must take action" at the U.N. High-level Meeting on NCDs scheduled for later this month "and beyond, committing the political will and resources needed to combat non-communicable diseases globally." In addition, the authors state that "[t]he focus on health-systems strengthening and country ownership in the Global Health Initiative of the U.S. Government, should also add an emphasis on NCDs to its current focus of eliminating infectious illnesses, and reducing childhood and maternal mortality." They conclude, "The result will be a healthier and more prosperous future for all" (9/7).