Your Excellency Mansukh Mandaviya, Hon’ble Minister of Health, Government of India; dignitaries from G-20 and WHO South-East Asia Region countries; distinguished delegates, friends and partners,
My sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, for inviting me to address you at this G-20 co-branded event, and my utmost thanks for making this year’s World Hypertension Day such a special occasion.
Today, I have three messages, and my first message is really quite simple: congratulations.
Congratulations to the Government of India for launching this initiative, which aims to ensure that at least 75 million people in India with hypertension and diabetes are on treatment by 2025.
This is an ambitious goal, but a goal that is very much achievable using a primary health care approach.
To facilitate that approach, I congratulate India on its steadfast efforts to strengthen primary health care (PHC), even amid the COVID-19 response.
By the end of 2022, India had operationalized more than 150 000 Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres – a tremendous achievement.
Finally, I congratulate India on receiving the 2022 UN Interagency Task Force and WHO Special Programme on PHC award for its Hypertension Control Initiative, which has now treated more than 4 million people with hypertension.
India’s efforts are well aligned with the Region’s decade-long focus on strengthening services for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) at the PHC level, beginning with our Flagship Priorities in 2014, the Colombo Declaration in 2016, and then on through the COVID-19 response and into our Regional PHC strategy, Build Back Better vision and our new NCD acceleration Roadmap.
My second message – to all countries of the Region – is that together we must catch up on progress.
Throughout the COVID-19 response, health leaders and workers have been heroic in their efforts to maintain essential health services.
But disruptions have occurred, and in some countries, progress to prevent and control NCDs was halted.
Today, an estimated 250 million people in the Region have raised blood pressure. Nearly 98 million are diabetic.
True, compared to a decade ago, the Region has reduced the likelihood of dying from key NCDs by almost two percentage points.
But at the current rate of progress, the Region will fail to achieve the 2030 NCD-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets.
This is why last year Member States unanimously adopted a new Regional Roadmap for accelerating NCD prevention and control.
I urge all countries and partners to effectively leverage the Roadmap, ensuring that together we catch up on progress and are positioned for success.
My third and final message is on the need for countries and partners to commit to achieve new targets and goals.
In June, WHO will launch a new Regional initiative for cardiovascular disease prevention – SEA-HEARTS.
The initiative will identify several targets that are critical for the Region to achieve by 2025:
First, ensuring that 100 million people with hypertension or diabetes are on protocol-based care;
Second, ensuring that one billion people are covered by at least 3 WHO MPOWER measures for tobacco control;
And third, protecting 2 billion people from the harmful effects of trans fatty acids on cardiovascular health.
Together, the achievement of these targets will significantly increase our chance of attaining the NCD-related SDGs, and creating a healthier, more equitable and sustainable South-East Asia Region for all.
I once again congratulate the Government of India and assure you of WHO’s steadfast support to catch up on progress, and to achieve our new targets and goals.
Thank you.