The Hill: Silent killers: pandemic of the 21st century
Christine Ngaruiya, faculty member in global health and international emergency medicine at Yale and a Public Voices fellow with the OpEd Project

“…Finally, this time around, [noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)] were brought up in this round of [global development] goals, including promoting mental health, addressing substance abuse, and deaths due to injury. This is an encouraging start but we have a long way to go given the burden of disease that has already accumulated, lacking attention for the last two decades. The reality of the burden of NCDs cannot be ignored, and deserves the attention that is being allotted to other diseases. Policies need to be constructed that provide resources for treatment centers, guidelines, and ensure appropriate access to medications for treating these diseases. … Early action is paramount for these types of illnesses, we know what to do, and the tools for solutions are readily available. The time for action is now” (10/13).