Countries in the Americas have pioneered effective ways to fight the growing epidemic of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), setting examples that other countries around the world can follow, says a new report released by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) during the historic U.N. summit on NCDs in New York.

The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the adoption today by the UN General Assembly of the political declaration on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke, chronic respiratory disease and cancer which together kill some 36 million people each year. For the first time, global leaders have reached consensus in the General Assembly on concrete actions to tackle these diseases.

Heads of state and health leaders from the Caribbean reached out to their counterparts in other regions to urge stronger collaborative action against noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), as the United Nations General Assembly passed a historic resolution on the same subject this week.