DESA’s Population Division is finalizing preparations for the 43rd session of the Commission on Population and Development.

The annual meeting of the Commission, which has become a staple of the United Nations calendar since it was first held in 1947, will take place this year at United Nations Headquarters on April 12-16.

The theme of this year’s session is “Health, Morbidity, Mortality and Development”.

The Director of DESA’s Population Division Hania Zlotnik said that “the theme was selected as part of the ongoing assessment by the Commission of the implementation of the 1994 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development”.

The Commission last considered the theme of health, morbidity and mortality in a comprehensive way in 1996. Since then, non-communicable diseases have become a major issue worldwide.

The session will cover the various aspects of health and mortality in relation to development. It will discuss the implications of the changing burden of disease for countries at different levels of development, including the need to strengthen prevention and provide better health care for the management of chronic disease.

The session will also consider ways of accelerating the attainment of the health-related Millennium Development Goals, particularly in low-income countries. A main focus here will be the role of primary health care.

Member States will hear presentations from keynote speakers, have the opportunity to make statements on both the general theme and their specific national experience, and will engage in an interactive discussion on the contribution of population and development issues to the theme of the ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review in 2010.