The missing elements of the noncommunicable diseases action plan.

sensus on controversial issues such as guaranteeing access to affordable drugs, stiffened measures against the tobacco and alcohol industries, and regulations to curb international trade in unhealthy products. It seems the United Nations’ (UN) newly minted political declaration on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic pulmonary disease, has no shortage of flaws. The declaration calls on the UN General Assembly’s 193 member states to draw up voluntary national plans to tackle NCDs and commits the World Health Organization (WHO) to establishing a global surveillance network and a set of global targets before the end of 2012 to monitor trends and report progress in the bid to reduce death and disability from NCDs (www .un.org/en/ga/ncdmeeting2011/pdf/NCD _draft_political_declaration.pdf). Yet, leaders from many developing nations and a few rich countries such as Norway and Finland said they had hoped for a much tougher plan to fight NCDs, complete with hard targets for improved health outcomes, action to curb controversial trade practices and financial commitments from international aid donors. “Non-communicable diseases should receive the attention they deserve in the development agenda” and are currently inadequately supported through official development assistance (ODA), Dr. Eduardo Bustos Villar, secretary of the determinants of health and health relations for the ministry of health of Argentina told the High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases on behalf of the Group of 77 nations and China. “Despite the importance of NCDs for public health and their growing burden on national health systems, it should be noted that NCDs account for less than 1% of official development assistance for health. The G77 and China calls for the fulfilment of all ODA-related commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for ODA by 2015” (www.g77.org/nc/). Villar also argued that developing nations need flexible international trade laws in order to gain access to generic drugs. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, president of the 66th session of the UN General Assembly, argued that the “public health pendulum has swung too far” in favour of a few infectious diseases at the expense of NCDs, which, worldwide, kill a higher number of people — News CMAJ