The World Health Organization (WHO) Conference on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) will be held in Montevideo from October 18-20. The international event is being hosted by the president of Uruguay.

In an interview with President Tabaré Vázquez, he referred to the efforts being made in the country to prevent and fight NCDs and explained that countries need to intensify their response to this issue.

The head of state reviewed some of the actions he promoted with regard to health, both in his position as mayor of Montevideo as well as during his two terms as president of the Republic, mentioning cancer detection and prevention and emphasizing the educational and regulatory actions the country is working on.

Specifically regarding NCDs, the president stated that between 65% and 70% of all deaths are attributable to these diseases and, in some countries, the burden of the diseases and deaths from noncommunicable pathologies are on the rise. “We hope that Montevideo’s road map, the final result of this month’s WHO conference on NCDs, will orient and guide the countries’ efforts so that measures may be implemented and together we may protect the health of our citizens and save more lives,” he concluded.

The president is a radiation oncologist and he has led the radiotherapy services department at the National Institute of Oncology of the Ministry of Public Health since 1981. He has been a professor of oncology at the University of the Republic since 1987 and is also a member of several national and international scientific societies as well as an honorary member of the Union for International Cancer Control.