www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) sieht sich gezwungen, etwa 300 Mitarbeiter zu entlassen. Das geht aus dem Bericht hervor, den WHO-Generaldirektorin Margaret Chan diese Woche in Genf auf der Jahresversammlung der Organisation unterbreitet hat.
Aus den Dokumenten geht hervor, dass auf Antrag der massgeblichen Regierungen das Budget bis 2013 um mindestens eine halbe Milliarde Dollar gekürzt werden muss. Chan macht dafür die Wirtschaftskrise in zahlreichen Ländern und den Wertverlust des Dollars verantwortlich. »Wir erhalten unsere Mittel in Dollar und bezahlen unsere Angestellten in Schweizer Franken«, erklärte sie.
Am Freitag verabschiedete die bis zum 24. Mai dauernde Weltgesundheitskonferenz das Budget für 2012 und 2013. Danach stehen der Organisation in den nächsten zwei Jahren nur mehr 3,958.979.000 Dollar zur Verfügung. … (Quelle: Journal21.ch, 21.5.11)

MOSCOW — The World Health Organization focused for decades on infectious diseases, but now it’s putting non-communicable diseases near the top of its agenda.
The fight against heart disease, diabetes, stroke, lung cancer and chronic respiratory disease may not seem as heroic as the struggle against smallpox or H1N1, but chronic illnesses account for 63 percent of deaths worldwide — 70 percent in the United States and 90 percent in Russia.
“And these are preventable,” said Margaret Chan, director general of WHO, at a three-day series of meetings here this week devoted to chronic diseases. “People don’t have to suffer. People don’t have to die.”
No tobacco and less sugar, fat and especially salt are WHO’s top targets; reducing alcohol consumption and increasing exercise are right behind. Those factors alone account for 25 million of the 36 million deaths attributable to chronic diseases annually, according to WHO, and place a huge economic burden on families and nations. (Source: Harvard World Health News, 5/5/11) washingtonpost.com, 4/29/11

„Progress in public health during the previous decade and major challenges ahead“
… We have to take action.
This is true for the harmful use of alcohol. The report documents a wide and alarming range of harms, and also gives you a range of policy options and intervention measures, including at the regulatory level. With the industrialization of food production and the globalization of its marketing, efforts to ensure food safety likewise take on an international dimension.
I know very well that you have come to the table with a diversity of views on these issues. Finding an agreed way forward is not easy. There are some strong economic dimensions as well as strong public health concerns, and many competing interests.
But WHO, I believe, is the right forum for these discussions and the right agency to take your decisions forward. Rest assured of full support from the Secretariat in these and all other deliberations.
Thank you. Full text of speech, WHO, 1/18/10