On September 27th, WHO’s Independent High Level Commission on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) will present its recommendations to the United Nations General Assembly’s Comprehensive Review Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases. The Commission’s report, called “It’s Time to Act,” calls on governments, international agencies and businesses to combine their efforts to combat these diseases.  It is expected that, at this meeting, the recommendations will be studied and that the member countries of the Assembly will begin to outline, with a view to 2020, lines of action to increase funding for the prevention and control of NCDs.

In June of this year, the Report of the WHO Independent High Level Commission on Non-Communicable Diseases recognized cancer among the risk factors that governments should address with public policies. In this sense, advances in health have been detected, specifically in the oncological area, in some countries of the region such as Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay. In line with the regional trend, Uruguay has made progress through the creation of the National Resources Fund (FNR) for the acquisition of new technologies and treatments to fight cancer.

It is expected that during the event on September 27th, governments of the region will seek to address the common risk factors that foster the development of NCDs through the development of appropriate public policies. In order to achieve this objective, it will be made a diagnosis of the public policies implemented in the region, such as the recommendations made by the UN and WHO with the aim of correcting the problems detected in the health system