In an urgent call for action, the 71st World Health Assembly delegates demanded more political will from heads of state to curb non-communicable diseases.
The world may not be able to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and reduce premature deaths caused by NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, by one-third by 2030.
WHO released its “Saving lives, spending less” report, during the World Health Assembly..
It has for the first time measured the “health and economic benefits of implementing the most cost-effective and feasible interventions to prevent and control NCDs in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
The report recommends, what is now known as the ‘Best Buys’ formula, that by spending on prevention.
Over 17 million cases of ischemic heart disease and stroke by 2030 could be avoided in low- and lower-middle-income countries that account for 80 per cent of deaths due to NCDs in the world.
However global health funding dedicates just about 1 per cent for prevention and treatment of NCDs in low- and middle-income countries.
According to WHO’s Best Buys formula, every investment of US $0.49/per capita to avoid NCDs would fetch economic benefits worth US $1.35 by 2020.
By 2030, the report estimates, every investment of US $1 would fetch benefits worth US $7 per capita.
4th International Yoga Day
The main event of 4th International Yoga Day celebrations (IDY-2018) will be held on 21st June 2018 at Dehradun in Uttrakhand.
It is the venue for Mass Yoga Demonstration of 4th International Day of Yoga.
Recognizing Yoga’s universal appeal, on 2014, the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga.
The International Day of Yoga aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga.
The theme for the 2017 celebration, organized by the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, is 'Yoga for Health.'
UNWTO Executive council
The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism attended the 108th session of UNWTO Executive Council from 23rd to 25th May 2018 held in San Sebastian, Spain.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
The UNWTO Executive Council represents the Organization’s governing body.
The executive council’s task is to take all necessary measures in consultation with the Secretary-General, for implementation of its own decisions and recommendations of the Assembly and report thereupon to the Assembly.
The Council meets at least twice a year, the next to be held in Bahrain.
The council consists of 30 Full Members elected by the assembly.
New data centre in Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar becomes the fourth National data centre of National Informatics Centre (NIC).
The other 3 centre are located at Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune.
The new cloud-enabled National Data Centre aims to offer round-the-clock operations with secure hosting for various e-governance applications of Central and State Governments.
It has the ability to support 35,000 virtual servers.
It will provide benefits like on-demand access to ICT (Information and Communication Technology) infrastructure for easy availability and quick deployment of applications and standardized platforms of deployment.
Mount Deo tibba Expedition-2018
All women high altitude expedition to Mount Deo tibba (6001 Mtrs) which is located in Himachal Pradesh has been organized by the Indian Navy.
Indian Navy had summitted Mt Everest in May 2017.
The Service had previously launched the first successful expedition to Everest in 1965 and has been to the South & North poles in 2006 and 2008 respectively.
Now, with culmination of Sagar-Parikarma, the circumnavigation around the globe by All Women Navy Team, Indian Navy seeks to achieve a similar feat on land.
The mountain is located in the extreme east of the mountain range in the Kullu district.
Deo Tibba is located just 20 km east of the city of Manali.
Vision Document 2035
Civil Aviation Ministry is to prepare a holistic ‘Vision – 2035’ document.
The vision document is expected to address issues such as
Congestion at airports, runways and airspace
Development of unserved and under-served airports
Ways and means to boost the air connectivity to small cities and towns - thereby increasing revenues.
It will further provide a direction to the economic development in these areas in terms of job creation and cargo infrastructure development.
The vision 2035 document assumes significance since some of the big airports in the country are unable to keep pace with growth of passenger traffic.
