UN Interagency Task Force (UNITAF) Mission To Bhutan Underway
The United Nations Interagency Task Force (UNIATF) on the Prevention and Control of NCDs coordinates the activities of relevant UN organizations and other inter-governmental organizations to support governments to meet high-level commitments to respond to NCD epidemics worldwide.
The Secretary of Health of Bhutan had requested the country mission because NCDs have emerged as a big problem for the developing country.
Dr Nick Banatvala, Head of the Secretariat of the #UN Interagency Task Force on #NCDs on @un_ncd mission to #Bhutan interview to @BBSBhutan pic.twitter.com/vLw9hXEtS9
— Alexey Kulikov (@KulikovUNIATF) February 6, 2017
Purpose of UNITAF country missions
Joint missions support UN country teams in their efforts to help countries in building and sharing solutions for the prevention and control of NCDs, establish a UN thematic group (or an equivalent mechanism) on NCDs to serve as platforms for joint support to national efforts to address NCDs.
Joint Missions also encourage whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches to NCDs by working with government and non-State partners.
The UNITAF mission to Bhutan takes place between February 6 to 10, 2017.
NCDs big developmental problem
Evidence shows that NCDs, especially driven through their risk factors alcohol and tobacco, have become a major obstacle to development in Bhutan.
Almost 1/4 of #Bhutan population has raised blood pressure, 30% of youth use #tobacco,8 liters of pure #alcohol per capita annual consumtion pic.twitter.com/EgXOaf1t22
— Alexey Kulikov (@KulikovUNIATF) February 6, 2017
UNITAF country missions
UN Interagency Task Force on NCDs conducts country missions on a regular basis, since its inception – always following official invitations from respective governments.
Recent UNITAF country missions include Zambia and Vietnam. UNITAF visited Zambia from December 5 to 9, 2016, to support the country’s efforts to tackle NCDs and road traffic injuries. Ten UN system agencies participated in the joint programming mission. This was the first time that road traffic injuries were included in a UN NCD Task Force country mission since ECOSOC widened the Task Force’s scope of work to include all NCD-related SDGs.