Global efforts to set a target for daily salt consumption at 5 grams, in order to reduce deaths due to stroke, has faced a major setback. The all important United Nations Non-Communicable DISEases (NCD) Summit in New York, that kicks off on Monday, is unlikely to set a global target for reduction in salt consumption levels. According to the NCD Alliance, a formal alliance of four international federations -- International Diabetes Federation,...

-The United Nations   A United Nations human rights expert today called for taxing unhealthy food, regulating harmful marketing practices and standing up to the food industry, urging world leaders not to miss the chance at a summit next week to end a state of affairs that kills nearly 3 million adults each year. “Voluntary guidelines are not enough. World leaders must not bow to industry pressure,” Special Rapporteur on the Right to...

-IANS   Assam has been allocated $2.5 million by a UN body to help improve hygiene in rural areas, stressing on the economic gains that would follow "when people spend less money on preventable sanitation-related DISEases". India is among 10 countries - seven African and three Asian - which have been identified for a five-year project. India loses $53.4 billion annually due to poor sanitation and hygiene, according to a recent report...

-The United Nations   The United Nations is set to launch an all-out attack next week on non-communicable DISEases (NCDs), bringing together dozens of heads of State to promote the lifestyle changes needed to curb the soaring toll of a scourge that already causes over 63 per cent of all the world’s deaths. The high level General Assembly meeting, held at the start of its annual General Debate on Monday and Tuesday, is...

-Xinhua   Heart DISEase, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions, and other chronic DISEases increasingly threaten the health and economic security of many lower and middle-income countries, the World Bank warned on Thursday in a report. The World Bank cautioned that the rise of chronic DISEases, especially among young working adults in these countries, was a danger that warranted immediate global attention. According to the report entitled “The Growing Danger of Non- Communicable DISEases (NCDs):...