Tag Archives: WHO

AFTNews, Soccer, Sport

WHO and football icons rally to score a goal for “Health for All” to build healthier future

On Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day), the World Health Organization (WHO) teams up with international football icons to urge action by governments and people across the world to achieve health for all. UHC ensures that everyone, everywhere can access the support they need to be and stay healthy without being driven into financial hardship.

To mark UHC Day, WHO is launching two new tools: one to help governments design and deliver the right service coverage packages for their populations; and a second to provide people with reliable information to support the everyday decisions they make to protect their health and well-being.

 “The World Cup is the greatest prize in football, and the greatest prize in life is good health and well-being,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Health is not a luxury for the rich, but a fundamental human right, and the foundation of peaceful, prosperous and sustainable economies and societies. The tools we are launching today will help governments and individuals to realise that right.”

UHC Day 2022 comes at a critical time when countries across the world are rebuilding from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic while facing many other crises such as economic and energy constraints, climate change and conflict.

UHC Day kicks off the countdown to the high-level meeting on UHC which will be held at the United Nations General Assembly in 2023. Heads of State and Government, at the first high-level meeting on UHC in 2019, affirmed that health is a precondition for and an outcome and indicator of the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. They strongly recommitted to achieve UHC by 2030 by scaling up the global effort to build a healthier world for all. The 2023 meeting is an opportunity to take stock of progress and galvanize political support and global action towards achieving UHC targets.

UHC Day at the FIFA World Cup

On the eve of the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2022™, WHO and its Goodwill Ambassador for Sport and Health, football legend Didier Drogba, led UHC Day celebrations in Doha, Qatar. This formed part of a full day of activities organized by the Education Above All Foundation to put a spotlight on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good health and well-being.

“I found myself in the unusual place where if I had problems on the field, help arrived quickly, and we’ve seen how vital that support can be lately. But off the field, we know, this isn’t always the case,” Didier Drogba said. “Ill-equipped clinics, unsupported health workers, and not enough medicines and vaccines put people’s well-being at risk around the world. Good health needs a team effort, so we need governments to commit to policies that support Universal Health Coverage and give everyone access to what it takes to be healthy. When we team up for health for all, we all win.”

Football enthusiasts of all ages moved to show their support for health for all as electronic dance artist and vocalist, The Mad Stuntman, performed his famous song, “I Like to Move It,” highlighting the importance of staying active and the role of sport in promoting good health and well-being.

Sherrie Silver, Rwandan-British MTV Award winning choreographer, advocate for the International Fund for Agricultural Development of the United Nations, Malaria No More Ambassador and Rwandan development advocate also led the crowd in a dance-off, called the World Cup Workout.

“On Universal Health Coverage Day, let’s all be active and play our part to make health for all our goal, said Alisson Becker, goalkeeper for Brazil and Liverpool, and WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Health Promotion.

A new WHO tool to help countries deliver UHC

Achieving national health goals has been hampered by the lack of a structured approach in designing and delivering a comprehensive package of health services that are tailored to local contexts.

WHO is launching a new tool named the Universal Health Coverage Service Package Delivery and Implementation or UHC SPDI Tool to support countries in designing their unique UHC health service packages. This innovative and practical online tool includes functionalities that will allow national health planners to select from a comprehensive range of health services—spanning promotive, preventive, resuscitative, curative, rehabilitative and palliative services—that people need to reach the highest attainable standard of health and well-being.

The tool is also designed to help identify human resource needs, essential medical products, infrastructure and other elements required for the effective delivery of health services. It also emphasizes first contact primary and emergency care, and highlights a primary health care approach as the basis for strengthening health systems and bringing all sectors under the vision of achieving health for all. The successful implementation of a national health service package will ultimately equip countries to accelerate progress towards UHC.

Universal health information for “Health for All”

WHO also launched a digital resource for the public called, “Your life, your health: Tips and information for health and well-being.” It provides people across different life phases with trustworthy health information that they can easily access, understand and use in daily life.

The resource provides basic information, founded on WHO technical guidance, on important topics such as keeping well during pregnancy and after childbirth, or how to be healthy and active in later adulthood. It also provides information on people’s rights and skills related to accessing and using information for health and well-being.

LINK: : https://www.who.int/news/item/12-12-2022-who-and-football-icons-rally-to-score-a-goal-for–health-for-all–to-build-healthier-future

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AFTNews, Events, Our Environment, What's On ?

Health must be front and centre in the COP27 climate change negotiations

View of main stage at COP27’s Health Pavilion, hosted by the World Health Organization. Featuring in the image: central sculpture Bodies Joined by a Molecule of Air (2022) by Invisible Flock and Jon Bausor, 2022. ©Image courtesy of Invisible Flock

AFTNN Report | PRNewsGIG

Climate talks begin at COP27 in Cairo, Egypt with a World Health Organization grim reminder that the climate crisis continues to make people sick and jeopardises lives and states that health must be at the core of these critical negotiations.

WHO believes the conference must conclude with progress on the four key goals of mitigation, adaptation, financing and collaboration to tackle the climate crisis.

WHO states that COP27 will be a crucial opportunity for the world to come together and re-commit to keeping the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement goal alive with a focus on health threats from the climate crisis.

Link to WHO website: COP27 Health Pavilion (who.int)

Climate change is making millions of people sick or more vulnerable to disease all over the world and the increasing destructiveness of extreme weather events disproportionately affects poor and marginalized communities. It is crucial that leaders and decision makers come together at COP27 to put health at the heart of the negotiations.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General

Our health depends on the health of the ecosystems that surround us, and these ecosystems are now under threat from deforestation, agriculture and other changes in land use and rapid urban development. The encroachment ever further into animal habitats is increasing opportunities for viruses harmful to humans to make the transition from their animal host. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress.

The direct damage costs to health (i.e., excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation), is estimated to be between US$ 2–4 billion per year by 2030.

The rise in global temperature that has already occurred is leading to extreme weather events that bring intense heatwaves and droughts, devastating floods and increasingly powerful hurricanes and tropical storms. The combination of these factors means the impact on human health is increasing and is likely to accelerate.

But there is room for hope, particularly if governments take action now to honour the pledges made at Glasgow in November 2021 and to go further in resolving the climate crisis.

WHO is calling on governments to lead a just, equitable and fast phase out of fossil fuels and transition to a clean energy future. There has also been encouraging progress on commitments to decarbonization and WHO is calling for the creation of a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty that would see coal and other fossil fuels harmful to the atmosphere phased out in a just and equitable way. This would represent one of the most significant contributions to climate change mitigation.

Improvement in human health is something that all citizens can contribute to, whether through the promotion of more urban green spaces, which facilitate climate mitigation and adaptation while decreasing the exposure to air pollution, or campaigning for local traffic restrictions and the enhancement of local transport systems. Community engagement and participation on climate change is essential to building resilience and strengthening food and health systems, and this is particularly important for vulnerable communities and small island developing states (SIDS), who are bearing the brunt of extreme weather events.

Thirty-one million people in the greater Horn of Africa are facing acute hunger and 11 million children are facing acute malnutrition as the region faces one of the worst droughts in recent decades. Climate change already has an impact on food security and if current trends persist, it will only get worse. The floods in Pakistan are a result of climate change and have devasted vast swathes of the country. The impact will be felt for years to come. Over 33 million people have been affected and almost 1,500 health centres damaged. 

But even communities and regions less familiar with extreme weather must increase their resilience, as we have seen with flooding and heatwaves recently in central Europe. WHO encourages everyone to work with their local leaders on these issues and take action in their communities.

­Climate policy must now put health at the centre and promote climate change mitigation policies that bring health benefits simultaneously. Health-focused climate policy would help bring about a planet that has cleaner air, more abundant and safer freshwater and food, more effective and fairer health and social protection systems and, as a result, healthier people.

Investment in clean energy will yield health gains that repay those investments twice over. There are proven interventions able to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, for instance applying higher standards for vehicle emissions, which have been calculated to save approximately 2.4 million lives per year, through improved air quality and reduce global warming by about 0.5 °C by 2050. The cost of renewable sources of energy has decreased significantly in the last few years, and solar energy is now cheaper than coal or gas in most major economies.

Date: 6-18 November 2022
Location: Sharm el-Sheikh, South Sinai, Egypt
WHO at the COP27 Health Pavilion: COP27 Health Pavilion (who.int)
UN Climate Change Website: https://unfccc.int/calendar/events-list

Interesting Links:

  • Cop26 Global Methane Pledge wants to reduce 30% of methane emissions by 2030: The Global Methane Pledge – Global Methane Tracker 2022 – Analysis – IEA
  • Send a postcard to Australia’s legislators attending COP27: POSTCARD TO EGYPT: Join the call for urgent action at COP27 | Climate Council
  • WHO is custodian to 32 Sustainable Development Goal indicators, 17 of which are impacted by climate change or its drivers, and 16 of which specifically impact the health of children.
  • The COP27 Health Pavilion will convene the global health community and its partners to ensure health and equity are placed at the centre of the climate negotiations. It will offer a 2-week programme of events showcasing evidence, initiatives and solutions to maximize the health benefits of tackling climate change across regions, sectors and communities.

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AFTNews, Features Phlippines, Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs)

Health leaders from Asian and Pacific nations gather in Manila to address key health issues

MANILA, Philippines l 24 October 2022 – Health ministers and senior officials from 37 countries and areas across Asia and the Pacific are meeting this week to address key health issues and priorities for the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Western Pacific Region.

The 73rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific from 24 to 28 October is a hybrid meeting, with many delegates joining in person in Manila, Philippines, and others connecting online.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus travelled to Manila and addressed the Regional Committee on day one: “Excellencies. Your agenda this week reflects the wide range of challenges you face as a region. I give you my commitment that your WHO will continue to support you, through our country and regional offices, and at headquarters, to promote, provide, protect, power and perform for health.”

In her remarks to the Committee, Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO’s Deputy Director General and Officer-in-Charge of the Western Pacific Regional Office, said “The Region has made impressive achievements in the past year, rapidly rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, redesigning healthcare pathways to prepare for future pandemics, and driving forward the shared vision For the Future.”

In a presentation by the Region’s Directors on key achievements Dr Corinne Capuano, WHO Director of Programme Management for the Western Pacific, said “WHO in the Region has been responding to COVID-19 while continuing to drive forward our shared vision For the Future. The world and the Western Pacific look quite different compared to this time last year. More borders are open, more people are vaccinated, and, thankfully, far fewer are dying from COVID-19. In this Region, we have fared relatively well. Our collective investments and efforts – by leaders across the Region, by communities, and by individuals – have paid off. We have also built on our culture of learning and improving, and we have undertaken significant work to improve our workplace culture since we last met last year.”

During the seventy-third session of the Regional Committee this week, delegates will consider for endorsement resolutions on issues including:

• mental health

• cervical cancer

• noncommunicable disease prevention and control

• primary health care

• reaching the unreached.

In addition, this year’s session will feature a panel discussion on Communication for Health (C4H), and delegates will discuss progress in several programmes such as: health security, including COVID-19 and antimicrobial resistance; climate change, the environment and health; and advancing implementation of For the Future: Towards the Healthiest and Safest Region, the vision for WHO’s work with Member States and partners in the Western Pacific.

The Honourable Dr Bounfeng Phoummalaysith, Minister of Health of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, was elected Chair for this year’s session of the Regional Committee. Accepting the role, Dr Phoummalaysith said, “I am humbled by your trust and confidence in me to chair this seventy-third session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific. I thank you all, and it is my pleasure to welcome you – physically and virtually – to Manila. I also wish to thank the outgoing Chairperson – the honourable Minister of Health of Tuvalu – and other officers of the last session. I will do my best to follow in your footsteps this week.”

The Honourable Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, Minister of Health, Tonga, was elected Vice-Chair.

WHO

Working with 194 Member States across six regions, WHO is the United Nations specialized agency responsible for public health. Each WHO region has its own regional committee – a governing body composed of ministers of health and senior officials from the region’s Member States. Each regional committee meets annually to agree on health actions and chart priorities for WHO’s work.

WHOWPRO

The WHO Western Pacific Region is home to more than 1.9 billion people across 37 countries and areas in Asia and the Pacific: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, France (which has responsibility for French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futuna), Hong Kong SAR (China), Japan, Kiribati, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Macao SAR (China), Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (which has responsibility for Pitcairn Islands), the United States of America (which has responsibility for American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam), Vanuatu and Viet Nam.

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AFT Features, AFT TV, AFTNews, AFTNews, Editor's Note, Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs), Wellness

Is there a bigger pandemic looming?

Video 1 Comment
The Novel Coronavirus nCoV or COVID-19 has been one of the most widespread diseases so far. With a death rate of 1.52 million people, many believe that this pandemic is the greatest challenge in history. But there is a bigger and far more dangerous disease that has been in our lives for longer.
Photo via Pexels Alex Green

What are NCDs?

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, respiratory diseases and diabetes, are the leading causes of death in the world. They contribute to 71% of global deaths each year. This invisible pandemic causes more death and suffering than COVID-19, year after year. 

NCDs kill approximately 41 million people every year. This is more than the population of Malaysia and Singapore put together! Unfortunately, many people remain unaware of this pandemic that has been wreaking havoc for quite a while now. 

NCDs are diseases which are non-infectious, meaning that they cannot spread from one person to another. They tend to last for a long duration and occur as a result of a combination of:

  • Genetic – Certain diseases such as diabetes, asthma and cancer are genetic, meaning that they can be inherited from parents or ancestors. (We will investigate how certain interventions have shown positive effects in disease management in another feature article later – Ed.) 
  • Physiological Factors – These are factors that are related to a person’s body and can be influenced by genes, lifestyle and other factors. For instance, obesity and high blood pressure are physiological factors. 
  • Environmental Factors – These include factors such as access to clean water, air pollution, sanitation and poverty. 
  • Behavioural Factors – These are factors that are related to an individual’s actions and lifestyle such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol and lack of physical activity. These can be reduced through changes in lifestyle.

The main types of NCDs

  • Cardiovascular diseases (e.g. heart attacks and stroke)
  • Cancer (lung, breast, skin and the like)
  • Chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma 
  • Diabetes 

An indiscriminating disease

Just like COVID-19, NCDs do not discriminate but the most vulnerable are those living in developing countries. Poverty is closely linked with NCDs and increases the risk of death and disability from NCDs.

Each year, WHO reports that 15 million people between the ages of 30 and 69 years die from an NCD, and over 85% of these “premature” deaths occur in developing countries. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a leading voice and repository for facts and information on U.S. health-care issues shared in a post published on 29 Jan 2019, “The U.S. Government and Global Non-Communicable Disease Efforts” that chronic diseases in developing countries are not given the importance and attention it deserves (Ed.)

According to WHO (2018), NCDs account for:- 

26.6% of all deaths in Taiwan, 

63% of all deaths in India, 

68% of all deaths in the Philippines,

73% of all deaths in Indonesia, 

74% of all deaths in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand,

More than 80% of all deaths in Fiji, and 

89% of all deaths in China. 

The rate of deaths caused by NCDS are extremely high in Western countries with NCDS accounting for: – 

74% of all deaths in Brazil,

89% of all deaths in the United Kingdom, and 

91% of all deaths in Australia and Italy.

It has been predicted that by 2030, the global average NCD deaths from the total number of deaths would be 75.26%. That’s a whopping two-thirds of total fatality.

Ann Keeling, Chair NCD Alliance and IDF CEO stated “90 million avoidable deaths from NCDs will occur worldwide within the next decade if nothing is done. We’re angry and we want action!” 

The risk factors that increase the chances of NCDs include the person’s lifestyle and environment. 

This includes age, gender, genetics, exposure to pollution, lack of physical activity, smoking tobacco and drinking too much alcohol. 

The rise of NCDs poses devastating health consequences for individuals, families and communities, and threatens to overwhelm health systems. However, most NCDs are considered preventable because they are caused by modifiable risk factors. Having an healthy and active lifestyle such as regular physical activity and nutritious food reduces the likelihood of getting NCDs. 

Countries and other stakeholders have to support a holistic approach to health, which promotes good health and healthy behaviours, prevention of NCDs and accounts for the early detection, diagnosis, management, and treatment of NCDs. 

This article has been researched, compiled and written by the team at Asia Fitness Today; Sneha Ramesh – Intern, Monash University (Sunway campus), Syuhada Adam – Editorial consultant, Nikki Yeo & Jasmine Low – Director/Producer.

Asia Fitness Today has embarked on MISSION 2030 — to halve NCD rates in the Asia Pacific region by 2030. If we could ask if you could please share this article on social media or with someone you know and care about so we can perpetuate this ripples of awareness in the community. It begins with a whisper, a drop in the ocean and slowly, change can happen. It begins with us. Learn more: www.move8.org.

References: 

World Health Organization. (2015, October 5). NCDs, poverty and development. https://www.who.int/global-coordination-mechanism/poverty-and-development/en/

World Health Organization: WHO. (2018, June 1). Noncommunicable diseases. https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, May 26). About Global NCDs | Division of Global Health Protection | Global Health | CDC. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/healthprotection/ncd/global-ncd-overview.html#:%7E:text=NCDs%20kill%2041%20million%20people,out%20of%2010%20deaths%20worldwide.&text=Changing%20social%2C%20economic%2C%20and%20structural,age%20of%2070%E2%80%94each%20year.

Benham, B. (2018, April 5). Poverty Increases Risk of Non-Communicable Diseases in Lower Income Co. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. https://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2018/poverty-increases-risk-of-non-communicable-diseases-in-lower-income-countries.html

World Health Organisation. (2019, June 12). Noncommunicable diseases. https://www.who.int/health-topics/noncommunicable-diseases#tab=tab_1

World Health Organisation. (n.d.). World Health Organization – Eastern Mediterranean Region. http://www.emro.who.int/noncommunicable-diseases/causes/index.html

Barbosa, I. (2020, April 10). The Invisible Pandemic of NCDs May Now Come To Light. Neill Institute. https://oneill.law.georgetown.edu/the-invisible-pandemic-of-ncds-may-now-come-to-light/

Wang, Y., & Wang, J. (2020). Modelling and prediction of global non-communicable diseases. BMC Public Health, 20, 1-13. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-08890-4 

AFTNews, AFTNews, Men's Health, Wellness, Women's Health

WHO launches year-long campaign to help 100 million people quit tobacco

WHO today launches a year-long global campaign for World No Tobacco Day 2021 – “Commit to Quit.”  The new WHO Quit Challenge on WhatsApp and publication “More than 100 reasons to quit tobacco” are being released today to mark the start of the campaign.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to millions of tobacco users saying they want to quit. The campaign will support at least 100 million people as they try to give up tobacco through communities of quitters. 

“Commit to Quit”  will help create healthier environments that are conducive to quitting tobacco by advocating for strong tobacco cessation policies; increasing access to cessation services; raising awareness of tobacco industry tactics, and empowering tobacco users to make successful quit attempts through “quit & win” initiatives. 

WHO, together with partners, will create and build-up digital communities where people can find the social support they need to quit. The focus will be on high burden countries* where the majority of the world’s tobacco users live.

WHO welcomes new contributions from partners, including private sector companies that have offered support, including Allen Carr’s Easyway, Amazon Web Services, Cipla, Facebook and WhatsApp, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Praekelt, and Soul Machines. 

Quitting tobacco is challenging, especially with the added social and economic stresses that have come as a result of the pandemic. Worldwide around 780 million people say they want to quit, but only 30% of them have access to the tools that can help them do so. Together with partners, WHO will provide people with the tools and resources they need to make a successful quit attempt.

“Smoking kills 8 million people a year, but if users need more motivation to kick the habit, the pandemic provides the right incentive,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

WHO released a scientific brief earlier this year showing that smokers are at higher risk of developing severe disease and death from COVID-19. Tobacco is also a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and diabetes. Moreover, people living with these conditions are more vulnerable to severe COVID-19.

Both global and regional cessation tools will be rolled out as part of the campaign. WHO’s 24/7 digital health worker to help people quit tobacco is available in English and will soon be released to support people in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish. 

“Millions of people worldwide want to quit tobacco – we must seize this opportunity and invest in services to help them be successful, while we urge everyone to divest from the tobacco industry and their interests,” said Dr Ruediger Krech, Director of Health Promotion. 

To create environments conducive to quitting tobacco, WHO has worked with partners and countries around the globe to implement tobacco control measures that effectively reduce the demand for tobacco. 

WHO calls on all governments to ensure their citizens have access to brief advice, toll-free quit lines, mobile and digital cessation services, nicotine replacement therapies and other tools that are proven to help people quit. Strong cessation services improve health, save lives and save money.  

More than 100 reasons to quit tobacco: https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/more-than-100-reasons-to-quit-tobacco/

Digital Health Worker: https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/using-ai-to-quit-tobacco

WHO Quit Challenge on WhatsApp: https://wa.me/41798931892?text=tobacco

AFT Features, Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs), Wellness

Adopting a healthy lifestyle helps reduce the risk of dementia

Video

One of the greatest fears most people don’t speak about is cognitive decline and dementia. How do they cope in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has just released its guidelines about how people can address this fear and reducing their risk of dementia. Believe it or not, it’s as simple as:

#Move8 fitness movement at KL Car Free Morning – photo courtesy www.move8.org.

  • getting regular exercise

  • not smoking

  • avoiding harmful use of alcohol

  • controlling their weight

  • eating a healthy diet

  • maintaining healthy blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels

And who’s a poster model for this? Malaysia’s and the world’s oldest Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahahir Mohammad, of course! At the age of 93 years young, Tun M as he’s fondly known to Malaysians, said this, “I would advise people not to rest when they grow old because if you rest, you will soon become very weak and incapable, and may become senile. Be active after you reach retirement age.

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad courtesy of https://aarondell.home.blog/tag/mahathir-mohamad/

It is the same as your muscles. If you don’t use your muscles and lie down all the time, the muscles cannot even carry your weight. You cannot stand. You cannot walk.

The brain is the same. If you don’t use your brain, you don’t think, you don’t read, you don’t write, the brain regresses and you become senile. So always be active,” Tun M advised.

In the press statement issued on 14 May 2019 from its Geneva headquarters, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shares that in the number of people with dementia is expected to triple in the next 30 years. “We need to do everything we can to reduce our risk of dementia. The scientific evidence gathered for these Guidelines confirm what we have suspected for some time, that what is good for our heart, is also good for our brain.”

WHO’s Global Dementia Observatory, launched in December 2017, is a compilation of information about country activities and resources for dementia, such as national plans, dementia-friendly initiatives, awareness campaigns and facilities for care. Data from 21 countries, including Bangladesh, Chile, France, Japan, Jordan and Togo, have already been included, with a total of 80 countries now engaged in providing data.

Creating national policies and plans for dementia are among WHO’s key recommendations for countries in their efforts to manage this growing health challenge. During 2018, WHO provided support to countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Qatar, Slovenia and Sri Lanka to help them develop a comprehensive, multi-sectoral public health response to dementia.

An essential element of every national dementia plan is support for carers of people with dementia, said Dr Dévora Kestel, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO. “Dementia carers are very often family members who need to make considerable adjustments to their family and professional lives to care for their loved ones. This is why WHO created iSupport. iSupport is an online training programme providing carers of people with dementia with advice on overall management of care, dealing with behaviour changes and how to look after their own health.”

Dementia: a rapidly growing public health problem

Dementia is an illness characterized by a deterioration in cognitive function beyond what might be expected from normal ageing. It affects memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language and judgement. Dementia results from a variety of diseases and injuries that affect the brain, such as Alzheimer disease or stroke.

Dementia is a rapidly growing public health problem affecting around 50 million people globally. There are nearly 10 million new cases every year. Dementia is a major cause of disability and dependency among older people. This is a rampant non-communicable disease (NCD) and inflicts a heavy economic burden on societies as a whole, with the costs of caring for people with dementia estimated to rise to US$ 2 trillion annually by 2030. The increasing numbers of people with dementia, its significant social and economic impact and lack of curative treatment, make it imperative for countries to focus on reducing modifiable risk factors for dementia. Action area 3 of the Global action plan on the public health response to dementia 2017–2025 is risk reduction. Download the global action plan here.

Some highlights from the plan on the areas for action include: increasing prioritisation and awareness of dementia; reducing the risk of dementia; diagnosis, treatment and care; support for dementia carers; strengthening information systems for dementia; and research and innovation.

This topic has recently been covered by The Star newspaper in Malaysia, “Dealing with Dementia”.

Dementia patients require assistance with even the basic needs

And also in Singapore, their Ministry of Health website addresses citizen’s concerns about the ever rising occurrences of dementia in elderly folks. Find out more about dementia signs here.

Warning signs of dementia

Dementia affects memory, judgement, language, planning and behaviour.

The video above, is inspired courtesy from Indonesia’s popular poco-poco dance. Some believe this helps prevent Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia by stimulating the brain. In the CGTN news channel video description, they share that Alzheimer’s affects the elderly, has no cure and experts have been looking for ways to prevent it.

Source: World Health Organisation // Ministry of Health Singapore // Ministry of Health Malaysia