Noncomunicable diseases including mental health and neurological disorders

Abstract

The Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases (‎NCDs)‎ held in September 2011 in New York calls for concrete and comprehensive actions by Member States and the international community, and emphasizes WHO's leading role in coordinating global action against NCDs. As a follow-up of this meeting and as per the decision of the Sixty-fourth Session of the World Health Organization (‎WHO)‎ Regional Committee for South-East Asia, a regional meeting was organized from 24 to 26 April in Yangon, Myanmar. It was a platform to facilitate discussions and consensus building on priority actions of the UN Political Declaration at regional and country levels. The regional meeting also facilitated Technical Discussions on Mental Health, including Mental and Neurological disorders. It provided a forum to discuss priority actions at regional and country levels to take the mental health agenda forward. The Technical Discussions also focused on alcohol as the common risk factor for NCDs and the substantial harm from alcohol use to an individual, the family and the community. The meeting was attended by 138 participants including 14 observers. The participants included representatives from all 11 Member States of the Region and from various agencies including the government, NGOs, WHO collaborating centres, academia and the UN. Based on the inputs received from Member States, a draft resolution on NCDs including mental health and neurological disorders was prepared. The recommendations arising out of the Technical Discussions will be submitted to the Sixty-fifth Session of the Regional Committee, to be held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from 5 to 7 September 2012.