In the fight against diabetes and the like, Germany is hardly a world champion
16.07.2014 11:20
Germany lags significantly behind international developments in the prevention of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. This was evident at the Summit on Noncommunicable Diseases held in New York last week as part of the UN General Assembly.
While many countries have now taken population-wide measures to reduce the risk factors for these diseases, which cause more than 80 percent of all deaths, the federal government surprisingly stayed away from the UN conference.
In a dramatic appeal, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan recalled that the obesity epidemic has been getting worse for three decades. She called for a drastic paradigm shift (“sweeping change of mindset”): “We still think too much about diseases rather than about preventing diseases.” The UN General Assembly decided that states should develop national goals by next year and establish national plans to reduce premature mortality from chronic diseases by a quarter by 2025.
“It is regrettable that the Federal Government is not taking part in this debate in the highest UN body and is therefore missing the opportunity to learn from international experiences,” explains Dr. Dietrich Garlichs, Managing Director of the German Diabetes Society (DDG), who took part in the conference as well as Dr. Stefanie Gerlach, Head of Health Policy at diabetesDE – German Diabetes Aid. Both had already taken part in the first UN summit against non-communicable diseases in 2011.
States are also recommended to have cross-sectoral coordination mechanisms and to establish responsible responsibility at a high political level. “We have therefore long been calling for a Federal Commissioner for Diabetes and Obesity who would play an important role in the implementation of a national diabetes plan,” adds Dr. Gerlach.
In the General Assembly debate, a large number of countries reported on concrete measures with which they want to reduce the occurrence of non-communicable diseases. For example, several South American countries have reached agreements with the bread industry to gradually reduce salt content - high salt consumption is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In Argentina, salt levels have been reduced by 25 percent in four years. Brazil has set a goal of reducing salt content in food by 30 percent in five years, and Canada wants to achieve this goal by 2016. South Africa has adopted corresponding legal regulations.
A number of countries have introduced various forms of sugar-fat taxes (including France, Finland, Mexico, Hungary), others ban television advertising directed at children (including Norway, Sweden, Quebec) or all forms of tobacco advertising, including sponsorship ( e.g. Australia). Other countries are considering following these measures.