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Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and
sponsorship
World No
Tobacco Day (WNTD) is commemorated every year on 31 May. The theme for this
year’s WNTD is "ban tobacco advertising, promotion and
sponsorship (TAPS)".
To strengthen the enforcement of laws
prohibiting TAPS and achieve compliance with WHO Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act
(COTPA), the WHO Country Office for India has planned a multi-stakeholder
advocacy campaign along with its partners to observe WNTD 2013 in 12 high
tobacco burden states to monitor and amplify the TAPS ban in India.
As a part of the advocacy campaign, a
national-level multi-stakeholder consultation was organised
in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, HRIDAY
(Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth) and Voluntary Health
Association of India (VHAI) on 28 May 2013 in New Delhi. More>…
India’s film industry backs tobacco control
 India’s film
producing fraternity has declared its unequivocal support and commitment to
health and tobacco control.
India
produces the largest number of films in the world.
WHO
recently collaborated with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India and Salaam Bombay Foundation
for a consultation with the entertainment industry on the issue of
restrictions on display of tobacco products in films/television and better
implementation of the related rules.
“We
wanted to reach out to the film industry and bring them on board as partners
in our efforts towards a healthy India,”
said Ms Shakuntala Gamlin,
Joint Secretary in the MoHFW, India.
More>…
India’s National Regulatory
Authority meets international standards for vaccine regulations
 The National Regulatory Authority of India (NRA)
and affiliated institutions meet WHO published indicators for a functional
vaccine regulatory system. A WHO-led team of
international experts from eight countries came to this conclusion at the end
of a comprehensive review from 10-14 December 2012.
“The Central Drugs Standards Control Organization
in collaboration with WHO, has made exemplary
efforts towards this achievement. The Government of India has decided to
further strengthen the Central as well as the State Drugs Regulatory Systems
during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) and looks forward to strengthening
our collaboration with WHO towards this end,” said Shri Ghulam Nabi
Azad, Minister, Health & Family welfare,
Government of India.
India is a major vaccine producer that has 12 major
vaccine manufacturing facilities. These vaccines are used for the national
and international market (150 countries), which makes India a major
vaccine supplier across the globe. More than 70% of all measles vaccines used
globally are produced in India. More >..
Scaling up action on hypertension and
related comorbidities in India
 On 4 April, WHO Country Office for India, in collaboration with the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW),
Government of India convened a national consultation
in Delhi to
celebrate World Health Day 2013.
In keeping with this year’s theme, the event focussed
on “Scaling up action on hypertension and related comorbidities
in India”.
Mr Keshav Desiraju,
Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Government of India delivered the
inaugural address. Other speakers at the inaugural session were Dr Jagdish Prasad, Director General of Health Services and
Dr Nata Menabde, WHO
Representative to India.
Also present on the occasion was Mr Anshu Prakash, Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
The event covered the rising
prevalence of hypertension and other NCDs in India,
population-based prevention of risk factors, improving the treatment and
management of hypertension and related comorbidities, necessary
integration of services and continuum of care, and the efforts of the
national and state authorities, WHO and partners in taking an integrated
approach to NCDs including hypertension. All these
issues were discussed in the context of overarching agenda of universal health coverage. More >…
World Health Day 2013
World
Health Day is celebrated on 7 April to mark the anniversary of the founding
of WHO in 1948. Each year a theme is selected for
World Health Day that highlights a priority area of public health concern in
the world.
The theme
for 2013 is high blood pressure.
Hypertension
or high blood pressure is estimated to cause 7.5 million deaths, about 12.8%
of the total of all deaths. This accounts for 57 million disability adjusted
life years (DALYS) or 3.7% of total DALYS. One in three adults worldwide has
high blood pressure. The proportion increases with age, from 1 in 10 people
in their 20s and 30s to 5 in 10 people in their 50s. It increases the risk of
heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and many other
associated comorbidities. Treating raised
blood pressure and maintaining it below 140/90 mmHg is associated with a
reduction in cardiovascular complications.
WHO Country
Office for India
is utilizing this opportunity to explore and identify how the health system
can be strengthened across the continuum of care, to address hypertension and
associated comorbidities with other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)
and with communicable diseases (CDs). Due attention would be given to issues
including a primary health care approach; improved diagnostic capacity;
access to essential medicines; capacity building of staff; strengthening the
Health Information System to capture data on NCDs
and associated comorbidities; engaging the private
and voluntary sectors to address hypertension, and linkages to both, the coverage and financial protection aspects of universal health coverage. More >..
Health Minister launches WHO India’s
New Country Cooperation Strategy
 
Envisioning
better health for all Indians, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Hon’ble Minister for
Health & Family Welfare, Government of India launched WHO’s new Country
Cooperation Strategy with India
(2012-17) along with Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India on 29 June 2012.
Present at the launch were Mr P K Pradhan,
Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW);
Mr K Desiraju, Special Secretary (Health
Administration), MoHFW; and development partners
including representatives from other UN agencies, World Bank, USAID, CDC,
Norway India Partnership Initiative and Rotary International.
Reflecting
the shared vision of the two partners, it is for the first time that the
Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) has been developed jointly by the Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of
India and the WHO Country Office for India (WCO). More
>…
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