LIFESTYLE DISEASES: Access to Chronic Disease Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Chronic, non-communicable diseases or chronic diseases,* such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, have a considerable impact on human life and the economy.These diseases have become the leading cause of mortality worldwide and were estimated to account for 60 per cent of global deaths -- 35 million -- in 2005.
Global Health: Priority Agenda for the 21st Century
At the core of the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 2000 are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015, which recognize that global health is a priority agenda for the twenty-first century. Achieving the MDGs is essential for world peace and economic stability, and for addressing the critical issues of human rights, equality, and equity.
Climate Change and Malaria - A Complex Relationship
Malaria, the world's most important and deadly tropical mosquito-borne parasitic disease, kills approximately 1 million people and afflicts as many as 1 billion people in 109 countries throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America.Reducing the impact of malaria will significantly enhance the efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, agreed upon by every United Nations Member State. Variation in climatic conditions, such as temperature, rainfall patterns, and humidity, has a profound effect on the longevity of the mosquito and on the development of malaria parasites in the mosquito and, subsequently, on malaria transmission.
LIFESTYLE DISEASES: An Economic Burden on the Health Services
Lifestyle diseases share risk factors similar to prolonged exposure to three modifiable lifestyle behaviours -- smoking, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity -- and result in the development of chronic diseases, specifically heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and some types of cancer.
Primary Health Care: Now More Than Ever
In 1978, the Declaration of Alma-Ata at the International Conference on Primary Health Care launched primary health care as a route to better health for all. The ambition was bold. The Declaration of Alma-Ata responded to a world characterized by vast and largely avoidable differences in the health status of populations, and mapped out a strategy for reducing these gaps through fundamental changes in the way health systems were organized and care delivered. As the Declaration of Alma-Ata argued, enlightened policy that made fair access to health care an explicit objective could raise the level of health within populations, enabling people to lead socially and economically productive lives, and thus driving overall development.
Confronting Violence Against Women - What Has Worked Well and Why
Violence against women and girls is a virulent form of abuse and discrimination that transcends race, class and national identity. It takes many forms and may be physical, sexual, psychological and economic, but all are usually interrelated as they trigger complex feedback effects. Other specific types of violence, such as trafficking in women and girls, often occurs across national boundaries. It is estimated that annually up to 2 million people, many of who are from the 150 and more countries constituting the global South, are trafficked into prostitution, forced labour, slavery or servitude. By threatening the safety, freedom and autonomy of women and girls, gender-based violence violates women's human rights and prevents their full participation in society and from fulfilling their potential as human beings.
Help and Support Migrant Families Around the World
Message on International Day of Families, 2010
This year's commemoration of the International Day of Families focuses on the impact of migration on families around the world. Rising social and economic disparities create both pressures and incentives for people to leave their homes in search of better opportunities. Many migrate out of necessity due to poverty, unemployment, political or armed conflicts or violations of human rights.
Toward a New Future for Haiti
The Petionville Golf Club sits upon a hillside overlooking Port au Prince and the sea. These days, its once-groomed fairways are home to nearly 50,000 people, among the 1.2 million displaced by the January 12 earthquake and crowded together in tents or tarpaulin lean-tos provided by the UN or international relief agencies.
Armed Conflict and Women - 10 Years of Security Council Resolution 1325
In October this year, the United Nations will commemorate the tenth anniversary of an important, but inadequately recognized international development landmark: Security Council resolution 1325, which recognized the importance of understanding the impact of armed conflict on women and girls and guaranteed their protection and full participation in peace agreements. Although late in coming, there are now signs of increased commitment and action to ensure that the goals of the resolution are met.
Time for Solidarity with Women of Haiti
I will never forget the time an earthquake shook Dodoma in 2002 when I was a parliamentarian in my home country of Tanzania. I had no idea how to react to the tremors and instinctively ran outside. Though I was fortunate that the tremors caused minimal damage, they brought home to me in a deeply personal way just how fragile we are. The earthquake that devastated Haiti brought these memories back vividly, and my heart went out to my many colleagues and the people of Haiti who have been deeply affected.
Navigating Refugee Life
Those of us concerned with violence against refugee women and girls may agree on two things: the first is that the magnitude of the problem is grave, and the second is that although there have been numerous efforts to address the problem in the past three decades, the effectiveness of the outcomes remains to be debated.
An Invisible Life
An Invisible Life was created by Allan Markman and Conor Hughes. Allan Markman, the art director, is Senior Designer with the Graphic Design Unit/United Nations Department of Public Information. Conor Huges, the artist is a content designer with the United Nations Department of General Assembly and Conference Management. He graduated in Cartooning from the School of Visual Arts, New York.
Hungry to Learn
See also Ms. Migiro's Time for Solidarity with the Women of Haiti, a personal essay on the need for solidarity with the mothers and children of Haiti. Mine is the rare job that allows me to meet, within the span of a very few hours, both a president and a homeless mother. And each told me the same thing. Three months after the earthquake that devastated Haiti, President Préval welcomed me to his offices in Port au Prince -- a modest building in the gardens behind his ruined presidential palace. Education, he said straight-off, must be a corner stone of the international effort to rebuild Haiti. Without that, there is no future.
Women in Politics - The Fight to End Violence Against Women
Despite the remarkable progress of women in many professions, politics is not one of them. Indeed, around the world, women have been conspicuous by their absence in decision and policy making in government. When the United Nations First World Conference on Women was held in Mexico City in 1975, the international community was reminded that discrimination against women remained a persistent problem in many countries; and even though governments were called upon to develop strategies to promote the equal participation of women, political participation was not yet identified as a priority. Since then, though there has been an increasing focus on women's representation and their impact on decision-making structures, the increased attention did not reflect in immediate results. For example, in 1975 women accounted for 10.9 per cent of parliamentarians worldwide; ten years later it increased by one mere percentage point to 11.9 per cent.
The Deadline Has Arrived
Message on International Day for Biological Diversity, 2010
The planet's species and habitats, and the goods and services they provide, form the basis of our wealth, our health and our well-being. Yet, despite repeated global commitments to protect this heritage, the variety of life on Earth continues to decline at an unprecedented rate. Biodiversity loss is moving ecological systems ever closer to a tipping point beyond which they will no longer be able to fulfil their vital functions.