2015•02•15     Rome

UNU-IIGH Senior Research Fellow, Dr Obijiofor Aginam participated in the fourth meeting of the UN Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs). The meeting was hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN in Rome on 11–13 February 2015. The participants were drawn from over ten UN agencies and programmes, and other international organizations.

The meeting assessed the relevance and effectiveness of the various policy and regulatory interventions for NCD issues within the mandates of the organizations that compose the task force, including: The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol; The FAO’s Second International Conference on Nutrition (2014) Rome Declaration on Nutrition and Framework for Action; and the new challenges in WHO’s tobacco control, especially activities related to trade and investment issues, including international agreements, and legal challenges in relation to implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Other NCD issues and interventions discussed by the task force included the WHO Framework for Country Action across Sectors for Health and Health Equity, Healthy Living and Prevention of NCDs in Children, and Implementing the WHO Recommendations for the Prevention and Management of Tobacco Use and Second-Hand Smoke Exposure in Pregnancy.

The UN Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NCDs, which the UN Secretary-General established in June 2013 and placed under the leadership of WHO, is coordinating the activities of the relevant UN organizations and other inter-governmental organizations to support the realization of the commitments made by heads of state and government in the 2011 Political Declaration on NCDs.

For a description of the mandate and activities of the task force, visit the WHO website.