Momentum to tackle non-communicable diseases must be maintained

World bodies and national governments should act urgently and work harder to engage the public in a global fight against non-communicable diseases, a conference of experts has heard.

Specialists from the fields of medicine, public health, policy, research, and international development said that more energy should be put into the cause and called for widespread efforts to mobilise support.

Richard Smith, director of the UnitedHealth chronic disease initiative and a former editor of the BMJ, said that the problem of non-communicable diseases would get worse without action, particularly in low and middle income countries.

“Deaths from chronic diseases are displacing deaths from infectious diseases, even in rural Bangladesh,” he said. “We have to find ways to raise public consciousness. The response must be all of government and all of …