Rallying United Nations organizations in the fight against noncommunicable diseases.

Editorials 623 Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), namely cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes , cause 63% of the world's total mortality. 1 Of the premature deaths from NCDs that occur in people between the ages of 30 and 70 years, 86% – i.e. approximately 12 million – occur in developing countries. 2 The cumulative economic losses to low-and middle-income countries from the major NCDs are expected to surpass seven trillion United States dollars (US$) over the period from 2011 to 2025 (an average of nearly US$ 500 billion per year). 3 As NCDs are largely preventable, however, the number of premature deaths can be greatly reduced. This effort is supported by a vast body of evidence on effective interventions for reducing shared risk factors – tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol – and improving disease management. The Moscow Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases, 4 endorsed by ministers of health in May 2011, and the Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-communi-cable Diseases, 5 endorsed by heads of state and government in September 2011, have been decisive in raising the priority given to the prevention and control of NCDs on the agendas of meetings of national and international leaders. Because national policies in sectors other than health have a major bearing on the risk factors for NCDs, health gains can be achieved much more readily by influencing public policies in sectors outside health than by making changes in health policy alone. Many governments in low-and middle-income countries have realized the quick gains to be made against the NCD epidemic by investing modestly in interventions for enabling health systems to respond and reducing exposure to shared risk factors, but many are struggling to move from commitment to action. The demand for " how to " policy advice to support national efforts is very high. According to an analysis of 144 World Health Organization (WHO) country cooperation strategies that national authorities agreed to jointly, 136 strategies included requests for technical support for the prevention and control of NCDs. 6 Nonetheless, current plans for meeting individual country needs in this area are inadequate and will need to be replaced by a more holistic approach to meet the rapidly growing demand from low-and middle-income countries. The 2013 Substantive Session of the Economic and Social Council (ECO-SOC) marked a turning point …