Inter Press Service: Women’s Health Policies Should Focus on NCDs
“…In 1999, [Robyn Norton, professor of global health at the University of Oxford and public health at the University of Sydney,] co-founded the [George Institute for Global Health] with Professor Stephen MacMahon for three main reasons. First, a recognition that the global burden of disease had changed, particularly in lower- and middle-income countries where NCDs and injuries were emerging as a leading cause of death and disability. Secondly, the expertise to manage the emerging epidemic of NCDs and injuries was not available in these countries. Thirdly, most of the global collaborations between the high-income and low-income countries were still focused on maternal and child health and under nutrition. … Norton feels it’s time the global health agenda expands from a predominant focus on women’s reproductive organs to include women’s whole bodies — and the NCDs, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes…” (Bhandar, 4/11).