With pink as their signature color, breast cancer survivors celebrate their cure with a balloon release before a ball game on the field of the Oakland (California) Athletics.

By Charlene Porter
IIP Staff Writer
Washington,
February 1, 2012

The United States joins the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the World Health Organization and a host of other players in recognition of World Cancer Day February 4, an event to raise awareness of one of the leading causes of death worldwide.

Cancer, in its many forms, took 7.6 million lives in 2008, the last year of comprehensive data available. Deaths attributed to cancer are expected to top 11 million in 2030, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Lung, stomach, liver, colon and breast cancer cause the most deaths each year. WHO says as many as 30 percent of all cancer deaths are brought on by the risks we take in life.

A main objective of World Cancer Day is to warn people about those risks, all of which are within the individual’s power to control: high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, lack of physical activity, tobacco use and alcohol use.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says on its World Cancer Day Web page, “Research suggests that one-third of cancer deaths can be avoided through prevention, and another third through early detection and treatment.”

The 2012 recognition of World Cancer Day is the first since the global community took an important step forward in combating cancer and other noninfectious diseases last year. The U.N. General Assembly held a special session on noncommunicable diseases in September 2011 to engage governments in taking actions to reduce occurrence of diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Raising awareness about noncommunicable diseases is especially important for developing countries, where half the world’s cancer occurs but where public health infrastructure is least prepared to detect and treat disease before it becomes irreversible.

CDC reports that it has joined the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the UICC and other organizations in a project to close the cancer data gap in developing world nations. The Global Initiative for Cancer Registry Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (GICR) will help produce sound data on the occurrence of cancer as a step toward prevention.

“The need is pressing to expand the coverage of population-based cancer registries,” according to WHO documents, “in order to obtain more complete and reliable data to guide cancer control interventions.”

Cancer registries are a base for epidemiological research in a given country as they keep detailed data on the types of cancer and the characteristics of their occurrence. Experts are able to review this data and detect patterns that can be further analyzed to produce prevention measures.

Cancer registries in the United States describe 80 percent of the cancer cases that occur, but in South Asia registries capture data on only 4 percent of cases, and in Africa 0 percent.

Another CDC message for World Cancer Day is that prevention starts in childhood with the introduction of good health habits regarding diet, exercise and weight control. Playful, energetic children who want to stay outside are also vulnerable to severe sunburn. “Just a few serious sunburns can increase your child’s risk of skin cancer later in life,” reports CDC.

The CDC is also trying to raise awareness about the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus that can be passed between partners during intercourse, as a principal cause of cervical cancer and a possible cause of vaginal and vulvar cancers. A vaccine is available to prevent HPV, and the CDC recommends it for girls 11 and 12. Girls and women 13 to 26 years old are also advised to get the vaccine if they did not do so at an earlier age.

A tuberculosis patient, right, takes medicine at a clinic near Johannesburg, South Africa, where the convergence of HIV and tuberculosis is a major health issue

By Charlene Porter,
IIP Staff Writer,
October 12, 2011
Washington — The number of deaths from tuberculosis and the number of new cases of this infectious disease are both on the decline, according to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) October 11.

The number of TB deaths is moving steadily downward from 1.8 million in 2003 to 1.4 million in 2010. The number of people who fell ill came down from 9 million in 2005 to 8.8 million in 2010, WHO reported.

“In many countries, strong leadership and domestic financing, with robust donor support, has started to make a real difference in the fight against TB,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. “The challenge now is to build on that commitment to increase the global effort.”

The United States has been among the donor nations that have helped to bring about the progress against this disease, which has plagued humankind since the dawn of history. On the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day last March, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States will sustain its commitment to combat the disease.

“In collaboration with existing TB programs and our partners throughout the world, the United States is uncovering new knowledge on prevention and treatment strategies; upgrading laboratory infrastructures; training the next generation of researchers and health care providers; and introducing new diagnostic and treatment tools,” Clinton said.

Health policymakers devoted new energies and resources to tuberculosis in the last decade when it was recognized as a principal cause of death for people with AIDS. Resources and partnerships devoted to quelling AIDS have also bolstered the campaign against TB, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) enacted under the administration of George W. Bush; and now the Obama administration’s Global Health Initiative.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) works to contain and treat TB with $225 million earmarked for those efforts in 2010 and an anticipated $230 million in 2011.

“USAID is proud to support the critical work of domestic and international partners against TB,” said Ariel Pablos-Mendez, assistant administrator for USAID’s global health programs, at a Washington news conference unveiling the new WHO report. “We know that treating TB abroad saves lives while also saving money here at home.”

The international aid community hums with concern these days about whether its activities will undergo serious funding cuts due to the strain on government budgets in the United States and many other donor nations. Pablos-Mendez urged against cuts that might undermine efforts to improve global health.

“We know from past experience that continued vigilance is essential to maintaining gains and reaching our goals; failing to do so is likely to result in major outbreaks of drug-resistant TB, such as those seen in the United States in the late 1980s, the former Soviet republics in the early 1990s and Africa more recently,” Pablos-Mendez said.

Advances in technology are also cause for improvement in TB survival. New diagnostic methods can identify the disease in rural areas without the need for a sophisticated laboratory and technicians to process and analyze tissue samples. There are also new treatments coming into use that simplify what has been a long and sometimes uncomfortable drug regimen lasting up to six months.

These advances are important, but they are also balanced against the need for progress in the identification and treatment of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Patient failure to properly complete the full six-month drug treatment has led to the emergence of a more deadly strain of the TB pathogen that does not respond to the usual drugs, and requires a more complicated and more expensive drug treatment.

(end text)

A community health worker in a village in Senegal examines a patient who has recovered from a bout with malaria

By Charlene Porter
IIP Staff Writer

27 September 2011

Washington — The United States and the World Health Organization (WHO) are moving to a higher level of cooperation, combining resources to help other countries boost their public health infrastructure for the good of their own people and the rest of the world.

In New York September 19, the two parties signed what is formally called a “memorandum of understanding” to help developing countries improve their public health capabilities and create better adherence to the International Health Regulations (IHR). President Obama expressed his commitment to the endeavor when he addressed the U.N. General Assembly.

“We must come together to prevent, detect and fight every kind of biological danger,” Obama said in his September 21 speech.

The United States and the WHO have a long record of cooperation and mutual support in working together to contain infectious disease outbreaks, expand vaccination coverage and decrease infant and child mortality rates. This agreement elevates that cooperation to a “whole-of-government approach,” according to an official in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).

“It’s about any event that may have a negative impact on international public health,” said Dr. Jose A. Fernandez, the acting deputy director of the ASPR Division of International Health Security. “Radiological releases, chemical spills, food-borne outbreaks and pandemic influenza would all be examples” of events that have the potential to move rapidly across borders and harm individuals with no regard for nationality.

The regulations took on an expanded form in recent years after sudden outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza caused major public health scares and proved how transportation and globalization can put disease on a fast track.

One-hundred-ninety-four nations are signatories to the IHR, but Fernandez says many nations need some assistance to upgrade their disease identification, surveillance and response capabilities.

The United States has been training and assisting medical professionals in the developing world for some time. Notably, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains a network of Global Disease Detection Centers throughout the world to work directly with countries and the WHO to bolster capacities for disease surveillance and response. The U.S. Navy medical research unit in Cairo brought in teams of specialists from many African countries during the avian influenza scare to provide training in detection of the disease.

“The [Department of Defense] labs alone have provided an enormous amount of support generally to countries and institutions,” Fernandez said. But the newly signed memorandum of understanding reaches for new levels in “successfully improving, enhancing and protecting global health security.”

This new level of commitment to the International Health Regulations comes as the Obama administration is implementing its Global Health Initiative, which strives to invest in the most effective health care programs. Fernandez said helping countries build greater capability to meet the responsibilities of the IHR is compatible with the Obama initiative.

“When we do these capacity-building activities, there has to be country ownership, it has to be sustainable, and that means it needs to address day-to-day public health needs,” Fernandez said.

The WHO is striving to upgrade the capabilities of all nations to assess, notify and respond to infectious disease threats, and is working toward achieving that level of competence by 2012.

(end text)
]]> http://geneva.usmission.gov/2011/09/30/international-cooperation-boost-public-health/feed/ 0 http://geneva.usmission.gov/2011/09/20/us-who/ http://geneva.usmission.gov/2011/09/20/us-who/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 07:30:48 +0000 EB http://geneva.usmission.gov/?p=12773 U.S. Department of  State
Office of the Spokesperson

September 19, 2011
Media note

U.S. Government and World Health Organization Sign Agreement to Help Developing Countries Strengthen Their Capabilities to Meet International Health Regulations.

Following is the text of a joint statement by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the United States and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Begin Text:

On September 19th, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the Government of the United States of America and the WHO signed a MOU to help developing nations strengthen their capabilities to support the International Health Regulations (IHR).

The IHR (2005) is an international agreement that requires WHO Member States to prevent and respond to acute public health risks that have the potential to cross borders and threaten people worldwide.

The U.S. Government and the WHO share a commitment to strengthen cooperation in the area of global health security to ensure that the international community effectively manages public health risks.  Improving the ability of all nations to detect, report, and respond to infectious diseases quickly and accurately lies at the heart of the global community’s ability to address all infectious disease threats, as reflected in the IHR.

The MOU establishes a framework for collaboration in line with the provisions set forth in the IHR, which provides a construct for coordinating the management of actions in the event of a public health emergency of international concern.

The MOU was signed by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Department of Health and Human Services, and Director-General Margaret Chan, World Health Organization, and subsequently by Ambassador Betty E. King, United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

###

Dr. Nils Daulaire Speaking at a Press Briefing with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Assistant Secretary Howard Koh

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
64th WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Statement by Dr. Nils Daulaire
Director of the Office of Global Health Affairs
Department of Health and Human Services
and U.S. Representative on the
Executive Board of the World Health Organization

May 17, 2011

Agenda Item 11: The Future of Financing for WHO

The United States strongly supports the Director-General’s leadership in promoting a comprehensive reform package for the organization. We believe the future of financing discussion has sparked an important discussion on the role of WHO at the center of global health and how to ensure the organization is best placed to respond to the challenges of the 21st century.

We commend the DG and Member States for the inclusive and transparent way the discussions around this issue both before and following the January Executive Board have taken place. We wish to take this opportunity to urge that same spirit and practice continue as we move forward into implementation.

Recognizing the paper for this agenda item remains necessarily general, we believe it is a solid basis from which to move forward, particularly in view of the strong consultative role envisioned for Member States in the draft resolution. We support the resolution as drafted and urge others to do so as well.

The further development of a detailed implementation plan will be an important piece of this effort, both for elaborating details around partially fleshed out concepts like the World Health Forum, and for bringing greater clarity concerning some of the interesting ideas that still need more work. I would cite, for example, the idea of WHO examining “the advantages of a replenishment model for attracting more predictable voluntary contributions.”

From our perspective, the link between the WHO budget and the broader reform agenda cannot be emphasized enough. We appreciate the work that has gone into improving and grounding the proposed 2012-2013 budget as a “transitional budget.” We know there is strong support for moving to a results based budgeting model. In our view, we believe we must get this right, while not downsizing or reducing the impact of the organization. We believe budget reform is a key piece of the puzzle of how we get the efficient and effective WHO we all need.

We also appreciate the DG’s leadership in promoting independent evaluation. We believe that shows the strength and confidence she has, and we all should have, in the organization. In our view, the DG, through her paper and draft resolution, have gotten this exactly right in terms of an evaluation that is limited in scope and duration, that will feed directly into the reform process, and that relies on strong Member State input for its direction.

We favor taking this forward in a way that builds on well-known and successful WHO practices for such outside reviews, such as the work of the recently concluded IHR Review Committee. We also believe that such an evaluation should look at a limited area of the WHO’s broad remit and focus on one, or a small set, of strategic objectives or themes that will likely best illuminate where changes need to take place to achieve the aims the DG has set out for us through this process. The DG’s earlier mention of health systems as a possible area of this attention seems eminently reasonable to us.

India has been successful in reducing polio cases with far-flung vaccination campaigns, which send volunteers to remote places to deliver serum.

By Charlene Porter
Staff Writer

Secretary Sebelius talking to the Journalists at the UN Headquarters in Geneva (U.S. Mission Photo by Eric Bridiers)

Palais des Nations Geneva
Tuesday, May 17, 2010

Secretary Sebelius: Thank you, and thank you all for joining us this morning. I just want to start by introducing a few key members of our delegation. They will be able to join me in answering your questions.

Dr. Howard Koh is our Assistant Secretary for Health.

Dr. Regina Benjamin, is the Surgeon General of the United States.

Dr. Mary Wakefield, the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration. That’s the primary Federal agency in the U.S. focused on improving access to health care for people who are uninsured, or medically vulnerable.

To my far left is Dr. Kevin De Cock, who is the Director for the Center for Global Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And many of you know, Dr. Nils Daulaire who is our Representative to the WHO Executive Board and Director of the Global Health Affairs office.

We’ve had two very productive days of meetings here. And before opening things up to questions, I want to highlight a few of the issues we’ve been focusing on.

First is polio. This morning, we had a meeting with Bill Gates, Director Chan, and a number of health officials from WHO and nations; health ministers and donors, including some new donors who are committed to the polio eradication effort.

We also heard from Sir Liam Donaldson from the Independent Monitoring Board who offered a sober analysis based on the Board’s recent report. It’s clear that the Initiative has made significant progress in battling polio but the situation remains fragile.

We have grave concerns not just about the disease’s persistence in the four endemic countries — Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan — but also about outbreaks in other nations.

As I said earlier this morning, the United States will continue to support coordinated efforts to stop polio, and we know that it’s making a difference. We recognize the need for full political ownership and oversight in those countries that are battling ongoing outbreaks. And we’ll advocate for support and resources at venues including the G-8 and G-20 meetings.

We’re committing also to work closely with our partners to make sure we get this job done.

Smallpox is another topic that we have been working on here in Geneva, and it’s to provide protection against the unlikely but dangerous possibility of a smallpox outbreak.

Yesterday morning we introduced a resolution that called for retaining the smallpox virus stocks at the two official repositories in the United States and in Russia.

We’re concerned that the smallpox virus may still exist outside the official repositories and could be released unintentionally or used as a bio-weapon.

The WHO’s own review of the smallpox research program concluded definitively that additional research is needed to protect public health should this occur.

By retaining stocks of the virus in highly-secured locations, we’ll be able conduct that research, and the results will be made widely available

Let me be clear: we are committed to the eventual destruction of the virus stocks.

But we also believe this Assembly should authorize continued research to develop the countermeasures needed to ensure that we’re prepared for a potential smallpox outbreak.

Yesterday, we also hosted a very productive meeting on non-communicable diseases — the chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and respiratory disease that have emerged as growing health problems for countries in every corner of the globe.

It’s a continuation of the conversation that began a few weeks ago in Moscow at the First Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-Communicable Diseases. And the work we’ve done here in Geneva will carry forward to our discussions at the UN in September.

In the United States, chronic disease accounts for 70 percent of deaths, limits the activities of tens of millions more Americans, and costs our economy billions each year. In developing countries the impact is even more devastating.

Addressing these costs means looking honestly at the choices we make about where we live, what we eat, and how we exercise is important. It means investing in powerful, cost-effective interventions like controlling tobacco and promoting healthy diets and exercise.

I know we share these goals with nations around the globe and our meetings this week have continued to confirm that. In the days and months ahead, I look forward to building on those relationships to make prevention and wellness a global priority.

With that, we’d be pleased to answer your questions and I’ll ask my colleagues to join me when it’s appropriate.

(end text)

Meeting on Polio Eradication Hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the WHO

Remarks by U.S. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

Department of Health and Human Services

Polio Meeting at the 64^th World Health Assembly

Palais des Nations, Salle VII

Tuesday May 17, 2010

8:25 am – 9:15 am

Thank you. I am honored to join my fellow health ministers for this important conversation.

I want to thank our hosts Bill Gates, Director General Chan, and Assistant Director General Bruce Aylward for hosting us here today, but more importantly for their unwavering leadership and focus on such a critical issue.

I also want to thank Sir Liam Donaldson and his colleagues on the Independent Monitoring Board. Last month’s report was truly an urgent call to action.

Over the last year and a half, we have made progress on some fronts in our battle against polio such as India. But we still have a long way to go.

A number of nations continue to struggle including Angola, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and most notably Pakistan.

In each of these countries an Emergency Plan of Action has been established by the respective heads of state. And we sincerely applaud these efforts. Implementing them is urgent.

This is a global challenge. Until the disease is eradicated everywhere, it remains a threat everywhere. If we are serious about global polio eradication, we all have a role to play.

And the United States is committed to doing our part. Our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will continue to produce quarterly reviews of high-risk countries. And it will take a lead in supporting WHO regions to help them strengthen and standardize risk assessments in polio-free countries.

Agencies across our government will continue working with our incredible partners around the world to:

• develop mass vaccination campaigns,

• surveillance,

• routine strengthening,

• communication,

• community mobilization, and

• quality evaluation

…while holding all stakeholders to the highest levels of accountability.

With global partnership, polio eradication is a winnable battle. But achieving that goal also requires resources. We must overcome the $665 million funding gap for polio eradication that exists through 2012 – a task that’s harder than ever to achieve with the global economy still struggling.

So I want to thank the large donors and donor nations, many of whom are here today, including new donors, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

For Fiscal year 2012, President Obama’s budget proposed an increase of $10.7 million dollars to further support polio eradication.

We will continue to advocate for support at venues such as the G-8 and G-20. And I encourage everyone in this room to prioritize their immunization budget to help minimize the risks posed by the current funding gap.

Eradicating polio doesn’t just mean eliminating the threat of paralysis and death for countless children and families. It doesn’t just mean saving billions of dollars in treatment and care.

It pays off in a million other important ways, opening new windows of opportunity and growth for entire communities and nations that no longer have to live with fear and uncertainty. That’s something we can all support and fight for together.

Thank you again for your continued partnership. I look forward to working together in the months and years ahead toward the day when polio is finally a thing of the past.

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Addressing the World Health Assembly

Remarks by U.S. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

Department of Health and Human Services

Third Plenary Session

64th World Health Assembly

Palais des Nations, Salle des Assemblees

Monday, May 16, 2011

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Fellow health ministers, distinguished leaders, Director-General Chan. I’m honored to have this opportunity today to address the Assembly.

A few weeks ago, many of us came together in Moscow for the 1st Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-Communicable Diseases.

Each year, chronic diseases kill 36 million people around the world, accounting for more than 3 out of every 5 deaths, robbing families and communities of loved ones, and costing our economies billions.

Many of these diseases like cancer, diabetes, stroke, and respiratory disease are projected to affect even more people in the years and decades to come.

In the United States, we have embarked on an ambitious agenda to shift the focus of our health care system from waiting for people to become acutely ill to investing in prevention to keep people healthy in the first place.

And we recognize that for developing countries, which have fewer resources to invest in prevention and care management and are often still combating significant rates of infectious diseases, the impact of chronic disease can be even more devastating.

Moscow was an important step in uniting the global community around this critical fight. And we look forward to continuing to share ideas and strategies as we prepare for the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on prevention and control of chronic disease.

We are only just beginning to address these diseases as a global community. But we can learn from our success working across borders in other areas such as responding to infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, H1N1, and even the possible threat of smallpox.

These are areas where we have made great progress, but we must remain vigilant.

We do not believe, for example, that the Assembly should set an immediate date for the destruction of the last known samples of the smallpox virus.

Today, most of the world’s population has no immunity to the disease. And it is quite possible that undisclosed or forgotten stocks of smallpox exist.

In addition, the virus’s genetic code is now available online and the technology now exists for someone with the right tools and the wrong intentions to create a new smallpox virus in a laboratory

We do have effective vaccines that could be deployed to protect most Americans. But global supplies are limited.

Fortunately, work is under way to develop and test new vaccine technologies.

We are also working on developing, testing, and licensing new drugs that could control the disease’s progression and greatly reduce the risk of death in the event of an outbreak.

We should not stop now.

We have more work to do before these safe and highly effective vaccines and antiviral treatments are fully developed and approved for use. Once they are ready, we intend to share the fruits of this research with the world.

Destroying the virus now would slow our progress and could even stop it completely, leaving the world vulnerable.

As we continue to address challenges posed by threats likes these, the United States remains committed to the World Health Organization’s implementation of the International Health Regulations and efforts to better coordinate the global response to public health emergencies.

Our collective response to recent public health events, such as the 2009 influenza pandemic and recent natural disasters shows how much we can accomplish through international cooperation and collaboration pursuing common goals in the areas of public health and security.

To this end, we recognize the importance of the World Health Organization’s efforts. We must use existing opportunities and find new ones to agree on practical and meaningful steps to bring the security, health, and scientific communities closer together to address emerging threats.

Finally, we are also committed to supporting the Director-General’s agenda for reform.

In order for the WHO to remain a leader on the most pressing international issues of our time, it must be able to adapt and respond to the constantly evolving global health landscape.

I want to close by recognizing the extraordinary generosity of those nations that have welcomed and cared for the vulnerable people fleeing the conflict in Libya — in particular Libya’s neighbors Tunisia and Egypt.

We understand that providing humanitarian service places great strain on both governments and the local population.

The United States is contributing over $53 million to help meet humanitarian needs and to assist those fleeing the violence.

The months and years ahead hold great challenges and risks for all of our nations. But they also hold enormous opportunities to advance health around the world.

By working together, we can make the most of those opportunities. I look forward to strengthening old partnerships and building new ones.

(end text)

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Delegation Briefing on Non-Communicable Diseases

64th World Health Assembly

Palais des Nations, Salle IV

Monday, May 16, 2011

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Fellow health ministers and distinguished leaders, I’m honored to be with you today.

A few weeks ago, public health leaders from around the world gathered in Moscow for the 1st Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-Communicable Diseases.

I want to thank Deputy Minister Dr. Skvortsova and the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development for their partnership and commitment to addressing these critical global health issues together.

At that conference, we heard about how chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and stroke have emerged as a growing health problem for countries in every corner of the globe and at every stage in development. And the United States is no exception.

Today in the United States, chronic diseases account for 70 percent of deaths, limit the activities of tens of millions more Americans, and cost our economy billions each year.

Partly because these diseases are becoming more common, some experts have warned that this generation of American children could be the first to have shorter life spans than their parents

This is not just a health issue. The growing prevalence of chronic disease is also a major driver of rising health care costs that are putting a growing burden on government, business, and family budgets.

In the United States, they account for seventy-five percent of our health care spending.

Healthy Choices

We also know that the burden of chronic disease is growing in large part because of our lifestyles – the choices we make about where we live, what we eat, and how we exercise.

So in the United States, we’ve embarked on an ambitious agenda to make it easier for Americans to make healthy choices.

For example, we’re putting more health information in people’s hands — from requiring food manufacturers to put the amount of artificial trans fat on their products’ labels to adding new graphic warning labels for tobacco products.

And we’re working with communities across America to support proven strategies for promoting healthy lifestyles – like giving kids more opportunities to exercise and eat healthy in school and bringing supermarkets to underserved neighborhoods so residents can get fresh fruits and vegetables.

But we also know that no matter how successful our prevention and wellness efforts are, we will not eliminate chronic disease overnight.

So we are also helping people get the best care possible so their conditions don’t become more serious.

Health Care Reform

As part of the health reform legislation signed by President Obama, we’re supporting new models of care where health care providers work together in teams to help people manage their chronic conditions.

We’re training more primary care providers who play such a central role in care coordination. And we’re expanding access to care, especially preventive care.

Driving all of these efforts is a commitment to steadily shifting the focus of our health care system from waiting for people to become acutely ill, to giving them access to care earlier, in a way that is more cost-effective and more health-effective.

America is Not Alone

We also know that the United States is not alone in facing these challenges, and that they can be especially devastating for developing countries. That is why we’re here today.

Four out of five people with chronic diseases live in developing countries with fewer resources to invest in prevention and care management.

Many of these countries are still combating significant rates of infectious diseases too.

Sharing Our Experiences

The Declaration that came out of our Moscow discussions recognized the urgency of these challenges and made it clear that we will all be most successful if we join the fight together.

Low-cost, effective interventions to control tobacco use, support healthy diets and promote exercise can save millions of lives.

We must put our resources where they will have a lasting and sustainable impact, based on evidence and risk — while leveraging the skills and experience of our partners outside government.

We also have to look beyond any one disease, building systems that allow us to care for patients who may suffer from multiple interrelated conditions.

And we recognize that the health sector cannot tackle these problems alone – transportation, education, agriculture, and housing all play a role.

Challenges like these may seem insurmountable at times. And we are only just beginning to address them as a global community.

But we can learn from our work in other areas.

A decade ago, many people thought that HIV/AIDS couldn’t be managed in communities with few resources, but a tremendous global commitment and collaboration has proven that it can.

Today, we can draw on many strong examples where HIV/AIDS is being managed successfully as a chronic disease.

As we continue to work to improve health care in our countries, we will be most successful if we continue to learn from each other. I am glad we have this opportunity to speak today and I look forward to our continued partnership.

Now, I would like to turn the discussion over to my colleagues.

First, Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health, will discuss our prevention agenda targeting major chronic disease risk factors such as tobacco use.

Then Dr. Regina Benjamin, our Surgeon General, will share lessons learned from our efforts to build healthier communities.

We then invite you to take part in the discussion, which will be moderated by Dr. Nils Daulaire, our Representative to the WHO Executive Board and Director of the Office of Global Health Affairs.

Thank you.