3-day forum in Sharjah to discuss non-communicable diseases
sharjah — The second Global Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Alliance Forum will begin in Sharjah on Saturday, in the presence of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of the Ruler of Sharjah and Founder and Patron of FoCP.
The organisers, NCD Alliance, has chosen the emirate to host the first two editions of the event, where most respected NCD health experts from around the world will discuss strategies on how to reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases — responsible for more than 40 million deaths globally each year.
Sharjah-based Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP) will welcome more than 350 delegates and 80 expert speakers to the Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre, including scientists, medical pioneers, support groups, NGOs and civil societies from 68 countries such as Kenya, Mexico, the US, the UK, Switzerland, Brazil, Jordan, India, Zanzibar, Sweden, Norway, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Australia, Paraguay, Jamaica, Chile, the Philippines, Germany, France, Zambia, Mozambique, Lebanon, Canada, Egypt, Nepal, Cameroon, Indonesia, Finland, Argentina, Ethiopia and many others across five continents. The threeday forum is being held under the patronage of Sheikha Jawaher.
The theme ‘Stepping up the Pace for NCDs: Making 2018 count’, reaffirms the NCD Alliance’s commitment to put intentions into action. NCDs — mainly cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes — account for 68% of global mortality, or two out of every three deaths.
In keeping with the commitment to provide practical resources, a key focus of this year’s forum, organised by the NCD Alliance, a civil society alliance uniting 2,000 organisations across the world is to mobilise highlevel political leadership to address NCDs, 80% of which occur in lowand middle-income countries.
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