IDF Advocacy newsletter - April

WHO publishes new free sugars intake guideline On March 5 WHO released its new guideline on sugar intake for children and adults, with the objective of reducing overweight, obesity and tooth decay burden. The guideline focuses on free sugars, monosaccharides and disaccharides artificially added to foods and also naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juices. After analysing the latest scientific evidence on the effects of these sugars on body weight and oral health, WHO strongly recommends reducing their intake to less than 10% of the daily amount of calories. The guideline also supports reducing intake to less than 5%, although this recommendation can only be labelled as conditional due to the lack of applicable evidence. You can read here the comments IDF sent to the draft guideline during the public consultation in March 2014. WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity publishes interim report On March 16 the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity released its interim report. It identifies key areas where action is urgent, outlining a series of policy options that could be tailored for implementation in any country. This document is subject to public consultation until June 6. You can send your comments through an online form. The Commission will finalise the report by the end of this year, taking into account the comments received during the public consultation and those expressed during the Regional Consultations with Member States. The final version will be submitted to Margaret Chan, to inform her recommendations on this issue to the World Health Assembly in May 2016. WHO first draft Framework for country action across sectors for health and health equity With the objective of ensuring health protection and health equity, WHO is currently developing a framework to promote country action on NCDs health determinants and risk factors. The first draft Framework for Action across sectors for Health and Health Equity was opened for public consultation between February 16 - March 3, 2015. You can read IDF comments on this document here. The second draft of this Framework is expected to be ready by early April. WHO will then submit it for consideration by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May. WHA draft agenda and IDF side event The 68th World Health Assembly (WHA) will take place in Geneva from May 18-24. A provisional agenda has already been released; NCDs will be discussed at the end of the week. In order to reaffirm its position as the global advocate for people with diabetes, IDF will organise a side event on May 19 around the impact healthy eating can have on diabetes management and sustainable development. More details about this event to follow. Post-2015 update The third Intergovernmental Negotiation on post 2015 framework took place in New York from March 23-27. United Nation Member States met to discuss ‘Sustainable development goals and targets’. The programme for the session included a presentation and general discussion on theprovisional list of indicators for the SDGs, proposedtechnical revisions to a small number of targets, and ways forward to agree the final agenda in time for the UN Summit in September. The role of indicators is crucial in reporting and monitoring the post 2015 agenda. NCDA Advocacy Toolkit on NCDs in Post-2015 In February 2015, NCDA launched an advocacy toolkit with the objective to empower its network to take effective action on the post-2015 process. You can read more about this toolkit and download it in English and Spanishhere.