The Pacific Community has launched a regional photography competition in an effort to creatively bring into focus the immense impact that Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) has on Pacific Island countries and territories.

The “Focus on NCDs in the Pacific” initiative provides an opportunity for amateur and professional photographers throughout the region to capture images portraying the impact of NCDs on Pacific Island economies and homes and how they can be prevented and managed.

Photographers can enter their images into one or more of the four categories:

The Pacific Community (SPC) has released its latest version of Pacific Nutrition Bingo, a fun educational tool to promote healthy eating and combat the serious threat of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the region.

Released in the lead up to World Diabetes Day (14 November), Pacific Nutrition Bingo actively promotes healthy foods and eating habits, and educates players about the concept and functions of three food groups, namely: protective, body building and energy foods.

Participants at the Pacific NCD Summit, co-hosted by the Kingdom of Tonga and SPC, June 2016

My thanks to the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University, Canberra, for publishing this post from me on one of the major issues for our region, non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Here is a preview and please visit the DevPolicy Blog site to read this is in full.

To stem the non-communicable diseases (NCD) crisis in Wallis and Futuna, community leaders have committed to declare public community areas smoke-free and to cultivate gardens to promote consumption of healthy local foods.

They will also exclude sugar-sweetened beverages and alcohol from community gatherings.

These are among the outcomes of the first-ever joint mission to Wallis and Futuna by the Pacific Community (SPC) and World Health Organisation (WHO), to support the national Health Agency in its efforts to scale-up action on NCDs.

Twenty legal, trade and health department representatives from across the Pacific are in Fiji this week to examine the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) burden in the region and the role of the law in preventing and controlling NCDs, particularly in the context of developing coherence between health, trade and investment laws, policies and sectors.

Pacific Island countries and territories at the inaugural Pacific Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Summit have expressed their support for a Pacific funding mechanism to better balance responses to the mammoth burden of NCDs in the region.

In this regard, the Pacific Island countries and territories at the summit have agreed to explore options to establish greater synergies between funding sources.

Testament to the urgency and strong commitment to effectively tackle the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) crisis in the Pacific region, over 120 high-level delegates representing Pacific Island countries and international development partners will gather in Tonga next week for the inaugural Pacific NCD Summit.

This World No Tobacco Day (Tuesday 31 May) the territory of Wallis and Futuna is getting involved in the fight against smoking by developing a strategy to inform smokers about the implications of tobacco use and offer them support to quit the habit.

The “Tackling Our Addiction” campaign will be launched tomorrow by Health prevention staff with the support of the Pacific Community (SPC).

Pacific Islands’ leaders, ministers and officials from regional and global development agencies will gather in the Kingdom of Tonga from 20-22 June 2016 to deliberate on better ways to tackle the region’s non-communicable diseases (NCDs) crisis.

NCDs – primarily heart disease, cancers, lung disease and diabetes – are the leading cause of death in the Pacific, with life expectancy declining in some Pacific Island countries as a result of NCD-related premature deaths.