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President of the General Assembly John W. Ashe met with Dr Margaret Chan on 24th February, when the two discussed current efforts and outstanding targets in noncommunicable diseases.

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According to a new report published by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, being overweight is so common that it risks becoming a new norm in the WHO European Region. For example, up to 27% of 13-year-olds and 33% of 11-year olds are overweight.

Specific NCD language has been accepted for incorporation into the final Commission on Social Development (ECOSOC) Resolution on the implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing.

The preambular paragraph recognizes the links between ageing and rising incidence of NCDs.

Operative paragraph 11 encourages the strengthening of policies and approaches to both the physical and mental health of older people, particularly for NCDs, across the continuum of care.

Advocat and clinician Dr Sulafa Ali, a member of the World Heart Federation, shares her successes in raising the profile of pediatric cardiology and building RHD programmes in Sudan.

Click here to read via The Lancet.

On 16-17 February, the Uganda NCD Alliance (UNCDA) hosted a two day planning meeting of the East Africa NCD Alliance Initiative.

On 11-12 February the newly formed South Africa NCD Alliance convened a stakeholder meeting in Johannesburg entitled “A Call to Action: Stopping the Epidemic of NCDs”. The meeting was part of the NCD Alliance program Strengthening Health Systems, Supporting NCD Action, and brought together over 90 participants from government, civil society, healthcare providers, industry and academia.

A joint report of Nutrition and Dementia has been released by Alzheimer's Disease International and Compass Group. The report details specific nutrients linked to dementia prevention and nutritional care for dementia and also highlights links between nutrition and other NCDs.

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Dr. Vera Luiza Da Costa e Silva will become head of the secretariat for the WHO Framework Convention On Tobacco Control in June. From Brazil and currently Coordinator of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Health, National School of Public Health, Silva will work at WHO HQ in Geneva.

South Africa's Department of Health is currently considering whether to support enforcement of a "sugar tax" in line with aims to reduce sugar consumption across the country.

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In a meeting to mark World Cancer Day, Ethiopia's First Lady Her Excellency Mrs. Roman Tesfaye brought together major stakeholders working to prevent and control cancer at the Prime Minister’s Office on February 3, 2014. Among the over seventy invited guests were the Minister of Health, the Minister of Science and Technology, the Minister of Women, Youth and Sports, parlamentarians, and representatives of UNFPA, UNAIDS, USAID, Pathfinder, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and NGOs such as the Mathiwos Wondu-YeEthiopia Cancer Society and the Ethiopian NCD Consortium.