Country capacity for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in the WHO European Region

The lifestyles epidemic is the epidemic of the 21st century. Within the WHO European Region, the impact of the major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is alarming. As part of the implementation of the Action Plan of WHO’s Global Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases, WHO conducted a global survey of country capacity for the prevention and control of NCDs during 2009-2010. The survey was designed to measure the capacity of individual countries to respond to the prevention and control of NCDs. Specific areas of assessment include: public health infrastructure for NCDs; the status of policies, strategies and action plans relevant to NCDs; health information systems, surveillance and surveys; the capacity of health care systems for early detection, treatment and care of NCDs; and health promotion, partnerships and collaboration. This publication reports on selected survey results for the countries in the WHO European Region to inform the sixtieth session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe.