World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia member countries on Tuesday adopted the Colombo Declaration to curb a growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases, which kills 8.5 million people annually in the region.
Speaking at the 69th session of the WHO South-East Asia Region (SEAR) committee meeting being held in Galle Face Hotel Colombo, Dr. Poonam Kethrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South East Asia, said that “this is a critical moment for health systems and the people they serve across the South-East Asia Region.”
She said that “NCDs are already taking an unacceptable toll on populations, with the burden projected to rise in coming years,” and added “to avert this possibility, services for these diseases must be made available at the primary health care level, and high-risk populations must be provided all opportunities to access screening and treatment.”
The members expressed serious concern at the unacceptable burden of non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.
As part of the declaration, health ministers pledged to undertake targeted screening for early diagnosis, as well as to increase health guidance and counselling to promote healthy choices and self-care. Ensuring appropriate treatment, robust follow-up, management of referrals and focusing on and expanding NCD services to the high-risk population are key parts of the declaration.
To fund the primary health care approach for addressing NCDs, which is foundational to the Declaration, health ministers committed themselves to advocating for innovative financing methods, including dedicated taxation of health damaging commodities such as tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy foods and beverages. This will both reduce exposure to NCD risk factors as well as mobilize more resources for NCD prevention and control.
The ‘Colombo Declaration’ was adopted on the opening day of the five-day WHO Regional Committee Meeting, which was inaugurated by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in the presence of Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, and Health Ministers and senior health ministry officials of the 11 member countries of the Region - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.