WUNRN
Non-communicable
diseases, commonly known as chronic diseases, cause two out of three deaths
worldwide, and are the leading cause of death for women around the world.
LINK TO SIGN ONLINE PETITION:
Women: Demand a
Healthy Future, Free of Chronic Disease
OVERVIEW
Started by: Arogya World, Global Health Council, NCD Child, Women Deliver, NCD Action, Public Health Institute, The Max Foundation, Disruptive Women in Health Care, Hriday, NCD Alliance, World YWCA, Beyond Sport
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic lung disease, are one of the 21st century’s greatest health and development challenges. Collectively, these chronic diseases cause two out of three deaths today and by 2030 will cause five times as many deaths as HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria COMBINED. Yet, NCDs are largely preventable — 80% of heart disease and diabetes and 40% of cancer can be prevented by avoiding tobacco and through increased physical activity and healthy eating.
NCDs: A Social Justice Issue
80% of deaths from NCDs occur in developing countries, where people have lower
access to medicines, health care, and healthy lifestyles. NCDs can push
families into poverty, and poverty in turn worsens NCDs. The opportunity to
survive should not be defined by income and geography. Yet it is.
NCDs: A Threat to our Children’s Future
Our children are growing up sicker than previous generations. Low birth weight
can predispose babies to getting diabetes and heart disease later in life. And
marketing of fast food, sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco to children and
adolescents has led to the rising prevalence of NCDs. Children have a right to
health and a life free of disease.
NCDs: The Leading Cause of Death for Women
NCDs kill 18 million women each year. We know that women suffer greatly from
breast and cervical cancer, and are learning that heart disease is their #1
killer. Girls and women are at a disadvantage for getting NCDs: 60% of the
world’s poor are women, and many are malnourished and uneducated. In developing
countries, women often cook over open fires and get chronic lung diseases.
Disease and death due to everyday cooking? Surely that is an outrage.
Take Action Now
On 19th and 20th September, world leaders are gathering at the UN for a
historic summit on NCDs. The stakes are high: their decisions will impact the
lives of millions. Now we have joined together in a global campaign — Women for
a Healthy Future — to demand solutions. This petition is our first step.
Sign the petition. Tell your friends.
Join us in urging world leaders to reduce the vulnerability of women and
children to NCDs.
If we gather 10,000 women’s signatures before the UN Summit, we will take your voices to the media, to world leaders gathered at the United Nations, and to business leaders. We need your support to show the world how deeply we care, and to ignite action against NCDs.
PETITION LETTER
We Demand a Healthy Future, Free of Chronic Disease
NCDs, non-communicable diseases, are one of this century’s
greatest health and development challenges. These diseases are the leading
cause of death for women and threaten our children’s future. Yet NCDs are
largely preventable: stopping tobacco, increasing physical activity and eating
a healthy diet can prevent 80% of heart disease and diabetes and 40% of cancer.
As gatekeepers of the food our families eat and the physical activities we
engage in, we believe that women are a powerful part of the solution to the NCD
crisis and deserve an important seat at the table.
We think that great strides can be made in the fight against NCDs if world
leaders focus on women and children. This September, as you gather at the
United Nations to discuss the global impact of the NCD crisis, we, women from
around the world, ask you to:
Reduce the vulnerability of women and children to NCDs.
We call on you to –
Educate women
- About healthy pregnancies, safe childbirth, and the dangers of low birth
weight. This will both save lives today, and help to prevent NCDs in
future generations.
- That checkups, screenings and early diagnosis are key to saving lives.
Help women live healthy lives
- Address inequities in healthcare access, treatment and care. Survival should
not be an accident of income and geography.
- Make real investments to understand and address critical gender-specific
differences in morbidity and mortality from diseases including NCDs.
- Increase access to clean cookstoves the world over.
Help us to make the next generation healthier. Our children have a
right to health and a promising future.
- We ask for your commitment to reduce the marketing of calorie-dense
foods high in salt, fat or sugar, ie “junk” foods, and tobacco and alcohol to
children and adolescents.
- Tax tobacco products. Ban the sale of sugary soft drinks in schools. Take big
steps to reduce salt intake, in consultation with multiple stakeholders, with
legislation if needed.
- Promote and enable participation in sports and fitness activities among
children and adolescents, especially girls.
The cost of inaction is far higher than the cost of action. Sweeping changes to
policy and the way we do business are needed NOW to ensure healthy futures for
women and children. Together, we can, and must, change the course of chronic
disease, one community at a time.
This is our responsibility. The status quo is not OK. The future of our
children — and that of the children of the future — is at stake.
Women for a Healthy Future