Minister of Health Maithreepala Sirisena participated in a High-Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) convened by the United Nations General Assembly yesterday (Sep 19).

With the objective of presenting a unique opportunity for the international community to take action against the four main non-communicable diseases - cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung diseases and diabetes, and thereby to save millions of lives, the meeting started yesterday and will conclude today. It specially focuses on the enhancement of development initiatives in countries, the United Nations Official website states.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the two-day meeting marks the second health topic the U.N. General Assembly has ever taken up and comes a decade after it pledged to fight HIV/AIDS—a decision that led the U.S. and other countries to spend billions of dollars to put patients in the developing world on lifesaving drugs.

Few are expecting massive infusions of aid now to combat chronic killers in developing countries, given the troubled global economy and pressure on wealthy nations to step up donations for AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases. Nor are specific targets and timelines for reducing deaths or rates of chronic disease expected this week, after disagreements among countries in recent months over what targets to set, how to reach them, and whether to link them to development aid, the Journal further says.

It is against this backdrop that the health leaders from around the world are meeting to address the spread of chronic diseases.

For the full report, follow http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904491704576577562635778254.html.