What a week it was, September 16 – 22, 2011. Action packed. Heady. Full of monumental meetings and key personalities. Jolts of inspiration and renewed resolve to continue on our journey. Reinforcement that we at Arogya World are doing good work, well. A genuine leg up for our young organization, and a giant step forward for NCDs.

** This post was originally published on the ONE Blog on September 12, 2011 ** In the context of fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, which are at the core of ONE’s mission, I want to discuss here the global crisis of chronic non-communicable diseases, or NCDs — a set of largely preventable diseases that are intricately linked with poverty.

Though all people the world over are susceptible to the threat of these chronic diseases, this is a women’s health rights and empowerment issue because these diseases impact girls and women differently. At the same time, women are a crucial part of the solution to this crisis.

The acronym may be new to you. And you may not have heard of them grouped this way, but NCDs are diseases like cancer, diabetes, respiratory and cardiovascular illness. The kind of sick you get for a long time. That didn’t come from a mosquito, or a bad drink of water, or physical contact with someone infected. The kind of sick that… wait for it… causes two out of every three deaths worldwide.

We did our part to prepare for the UN Summit, but did our elected representatives in governments around the world really do theirs? By not agreeing to final language about what the world should do to tackle NCDs, our public leaders broke our trust.

This year, we must leverage the power of women to ignite action against one of the greatest health and development challenges of the century: chronic non-communicable diseases, or NCDs.

Americans by and large consume too much salt, more than twice the 1 teaspoon they should each day. But is reducing salt really good for your health? The answer is a resounding YES!

At the end of June, the Global Health Council NCD Roundtable sent a letter to President Obama, encouraging him to take a leadership role in the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which cause two out of three deaths worldwide. Arogya World is proud to be one of the signatories to the letter, along with 92 other organizations, representing NGOs, academia and the private sector, all joining forces and asking the President to attend the UN high level meeting on NCDs in New York this September.

Over the last eight days those of us in the global health community have had much cause to believe, and we are also seeing big things happen.

On Friday June 17, Dr. Bill Foege, one of the luminaries in the global health world who is credited with doing more than anyone else to eradicate smallpox from the planet, spoke to Global Health Council conference attendees. Known for his remarkable insights into public health, successful coalitions and human nature, Dr. Foege did not disappoint. In fact, he was brilliant. He gave us the most remarkable message of the week – Sometimes you have to believe for things to be seen.

The Global Health Conference 2011, “Securing a Healthier Future for a Changing World,” which started yesterday in Washington D.C., deserves kudos for choosing to focus on non-communicable diseases (NCD), serving an important role in the lead-up to the UN Summit on NCDs on September 19 and 20, 2011. The first full day of the conference was rich with knowledge, insight, and highly engaging discussions on NCDs.