Dominica: The President of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Sylvanie Burton addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York. She touched on the issue of non-communicable diseases or NCDs faced by nations across the globe. She discussed SDG 3, Good Health and Wellbeing, which calls on health stakeholders to come together to combat issues in healthcare and overall wellbeing of people.
According to her, despite being a mandate within Sustainable Development Goals, the growing burden of NCDs is an urgent crisis. The resolution of the issue calls for a unified and aggressive approach by all global leaders.
She recalled, in her address that according to World Health Organization NCDs account for 75% of all deaths worldwide. The list of Non Communicable diseases include, cardiovascular diseases, Diabetes, hypertension, all types of cancers and chronic respiratory diseases.
Non Communicable diseases shorten individual lives and negatively affect future of our societies, economies and shared global development goals. The fight against NCDs is not one that any nation, particularly a nation as small as ours, can win alone.
That fight requires strong leadership, innovative strategies and collaboration at every level. She spoke about the progress made by Dominica in this regard. She highlighted that that they have seen success in enhancing our healthcare system to better meet the needs of those at risk or living with NCDs.
On Tuesday, President Sylvanie Burton had the opportunity to present Dominica’s perspective, vision and action on non-communicable diseases. She discussed this with the global Group of Heads of State and Government for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases
President Burton said that “Dominica is proud to play its part in this global effort, and we remain committed to working with international partners to share knowledge, resources and best practices in the fight against NCDs.”
The first female indigenous president of the Commonwealth of Dominica, highlighted some successes and progress made by the UN since its inception. She recalled that UN was born out of the need to enable dialogue and facilitate cooperation among members to avoid international conflict.
However, she acknowledged that over time, the world’s understanding of human development’s contribution to peace building and civilization has improved. Currently, it has reached the point where cooperation to enhance the human condition now lies at the core of UN’s mandate.
In line with this, she has expressed her concern over the fact that progress in many spheres of human endeavor is not equitable.
She called on the world to take action in order to make sure that the most vulnerable are given the opportunity to grow and thrive. She called on the international community to make sure that no one faces neglect.
Talking about the Commonwealth of Dominica in this regard, President Burton said, “We are a small nation subject to the many challenges of growth and development.”
She called on the world leaders who were her audience at the UN General Assembly to continue protecting those who are vulnerable. She further called on the international community to to make sure no one, regardless of location, race, ethnicity, gender, or religion is left behind in the relentless pursuit of advancement.