In the run-up to the High level United Nation Summit on Non- Communicable Diseases (NCD) scheduled to take place in New York, September 16- 19, 2011, The Federal Government recently inaugurated a Technical Working Group to articulate the country’s position.

Inaugurating the committee, Minister of Health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu who is also the Chairman of the Committee assured that the UN high level summit would raise profile of Non-Communicable Diseases which constitute a major burden of disease in the developed countries.

• Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu

He said developing countries like Nigeria are, in addition to bearing the burden of communicable diseases, experiencing an alarming rise in NCDs such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, sickle cell disorder, cancer and asthma, among others.

NCDs account for 60 per cent of global deaths, noting that 80 percent out of those occur in low- and middle –income countries. The MDGs did not include any reference to NCDs, which means that developing countries government have no recourse in terms of international funding to deal with the diseases.

Country Representative of the World Health Organization, Dr. David Okello, reiterated the Minister’s concern about the paucity of funds for NCDs which have now been identified as the number one killer.