Dhaka is one of the 50 cities of the global network committed to saving lives by preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart problems, cancer, diabetes and injuries.
The Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with WHO, as well as Vital Strategies, is supporting this initiative to help those cities around the world deliver a “high-impact” policy to reduce NCD risk factors in their communities.
“Dhaka has made commitment to join the initiative. Now we are looking at what their initiative would be,” Adam M Karpati, a senior vice president of Vital Strategies, which is implementing the initiative, told bdnews24.com at Guadalajara which launched the initiative on Monday.
The Mexican city began the initiative ahead of the 48th Union conference on lung health, where over 2000 delegates including ministers, experts, and officials from 100 countries will convene to share their knowledge on respiratory diseases from Oct 11 to 14.
Under the ‘Partnership for Healthy Cities’, each city will receive $100,000 in support to implement one of ten proven interventions to prevent NCDs and injuries.
Create a smoke-free city, ban tobacco advertising, reduce sugary drink consumption, healthy food for all, create walkable, bikeable and livable streets, reduce drink driving, cleaner fuels for cleaner indoor air, reduce speeding, increase seat-belt and helmet use and monitor NCD risk factors are those interventions.
“The city determines its priority,” Karpati said, adding that the discussion was still ongoing on what would be the focus of the Dhaka North City Corporation which will get the Bloomberg’s support for a year.
He said Dhaka’s interest is promoting physical activity.
NCDs which also include injuries are responsible for 44 million deaths per year, or 80 percent of all deaths worldwide.
The majority of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and many of them are preventable if proven solutions are put into place.
With over half of the world’s population now living in urban settings, cities are uniquely placed to transform the fight against NCDs and injuries.
Effective policies at the city level will also help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, including improving health and creating safer, more sustainable cities, reports bdnews24.com.