Government health officials from around 40 European countries were gathering in Oslo this week, for “high-level consultation” on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases that can be brought on by lifestyle.
The World Economic Forum has identified such diseases as one of the “greatest strategic challenges” facing both developed and poor countries. The United Nations’ World Health Organisation (WHO) is thus organizing conferences around the world to tackle the issue and prepare for a meeting on it to be attended by heads of state at the UN in New York next autumn.
In Oslo, the Norwegian ministries of health and foreign affairs was hosting one of the UN’s “Regional High-level Consultations” at the Radisson Oslo Plaza Hotel on Thursday and Friday. The conference is co-sponsored by the UN Economic Commission for Europe, its Department of Economic and Social Affairs and WHO.
Participants will be discussing how to bring down the rate of heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung diseases and mental health disorders, which now account for 86 percent of deaths and 77 percent of the disease burden in the 53 countries of the European region.
Views and News staff
