AUCKLAND, New Zealand -
Infectious diseases such as SARS and bird flu pose serious threats to
Asia-Pacific nations, but these countries must not overlook obesity and tobacco,
two major killers already hitting the region, New Zealand's prime minister said
Monday.
"Obesity is a time bomb for New Zealand and the Pacific," Prime Minister
Helen Clark said at the opening of the World Health Organization's annual
regional meeting in Auckland.
Clark, a former health minister, said chronic diseases, including those
caused by obesity, are plaguing both rich and poor countries across the region.
Globally, 1 billion people are overweight or obese, according to WHO.
"It is posing huge challenges to our health systems, as we grapple with
increasing rates of the associated diabetes, renal and eye disease and joint
problems," she added. "The scale of these consequential problems is likely to
get worse before it gets better."
WHO statistics show that non-communicable diseases _ mainly heart disease,
stroke and cancer _ are responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths among the
Western Pacific region's 1.8 billion people.
Over the next decade, deaths from chronic diseases are expected to jump 20
percent, with diabetes-related deaths alone increasing 51 percent, said Anders
Norstrom, WHO's Geneva-based acting director general.
"Most of this can be prevented through healthy diet, regular physical
activity and avoidance of tobacco products," he said.
Clark also stressed how tobacco control can improve a country's overall
health. New Zealand has banned smoking in bars and all public places over the
past two years, and surveys have indicated that 63 percent of smokers themselves
approve of the measures.
"Smoking causes utterly preventable death, disease and disability," Clark
told the delegates. "It cheats our people of the good health to which we all
have a right. It is a scourge the world could do without."
Tobacco is responsible for more than 3,000 deaths a day in the Asia-Pacific,
which has the highest proportion of men who smoke. It also is home to more than
400 million adult smokers and has the fastest growing number of children and
female smokers, according to WHO.
China has more than 300 million adult smokers and is the world's top tobacco
producer, Norstrom said.
Bird flu is also expected to be one of the top items discussed for the third
straight year at the WHO meeting, which helps set the organization's strategic
agenda. The H5N1 virus has killed at least 144 people since it began ravaging
Asian poultry stocks in late 2003, and experts worry more fatalities will emerge
as the cooler months approach.
"We must remain vigilant and prepared," Norstrom said. "All member states
need to develop, strengthen and maintain core surveillance and response
capacities."
Associated Press reporter Ray Lilley in Auckland contributed to this
report.
