Six of the worlds leading health funders join forces to tackle non-communicable diseases
15 June 2009
Six of the world’s foremost health agencies, who collectively manage an estimated 80% of all public health research funding, have announced the formation of a landmark alliance to collaborate in the battle against chronic, non-communicable diseases. These include cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke), several cancers, chronic respiratory conditions, and type 2 diabetes.
The health impact and socio-economic cost of these largely preventable diseases is enormous and rising and has the potential to derail efforts at poverty reduction world-wide.
The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases has been created to support priorities for a coordinated research effort that will address this growing health crisis. Experts estimate that, unless action is stepped up, 388 million people worldwide will die of one or more non-communicable diseases within the next decade.
The work of the Alliance will focus in particular on the needs of low and middle income countries, and on those of low income populations of more developed countries.
Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council said:
“It is essential that we work in close partnership with colleagues from developed and developing countries to address the challenges posed by the world-wide increase in non-communicable diseases. We welcome this opportunity for the UK to establish global links in this vital area of research and look forward to the future expansion of the partnership.”
The Alliance’s charter members are:
- Australia National Health and Medical Research Council
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
- The Medical Research Council
- The National Institutes of Health, specifically its National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the Fogarty International Center
The Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, will be invited to join the Alliance as a member. Research agencies from other countries and private funders may also be invited to join in a second wave.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is joining the Alliance as an observer to facilitate Alliance support for implementation of the World Health Assembly-approved “Action Plan for the Global Strategy for Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases”.
The following research priorities have been proposed by some founding Alliance members. They will be discussed at their inaugural scientific meeting in November:
- Test ways to prevent cardiovascular diseases and complications of diabetes
- Identify and promote public health measures for controlling obesity
- Characterize and quantify the major risk factors for chronic obstructive airways disease (both tobacco and environmental pollution) and the development of control measures
- Advance research into the problem of tobacco consumption and its relationship to cancer, cardiovascular disease and other disorders
- Develop interventions to address the above priorities
The proposed priorities were identified in a collaborative paper, “Grand Challenges in Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases,” published in the journal Nature (Vol 450|22, Nov. 2007). Based on a global Delphi survey, this widely-cited research paper has been acknowledged as a sound, systematic framework for reaching practical policy solutions for the prevention and treatment of humanity’s most common chronic diseases.
Future research priorities for non-communicable disease prevention will be closely coordinated with the WHO. For example, mental health is likely to be a future priority for the Alliance.
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