The United Nations Development Program Administrator Helen Clark arrived in Tonga on Saturday and will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural Pacific Non Communicable Diseases Summit in Nuku'alofa this morning.

The Summit (20-22 June) will be opened by King Tupou VI this morning

Over the weekend Helen Clark met with Tonga’s Minister of Health Saia Piukala and Pacific Community Director-General, Dr Colin Tukuitonga. Yesterday she visited the Ministry of Environment Ministry staff at the water testing laboratory which is part of the UNDP Ridge to Reef ecosystem project.

She also visited the Popua mangrove nursery and the Vaini water spring, also part of the Ridge 2 Reef project supported site rehabilitation.

The NCD summit - a response to urgency and strong commitment to effectively tackle the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) crisis in the Pacific region will be attended by over 120 high-level delegates representing Pacific Island countries and international development partners.

It is being jointly organised by the Government of Tonga and the Pacific Community (SPC), supported by the Australian Government, New Zealand Aid Programme, Government of the United States, World Bank, World Diabetes Foundation (WDF), World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The three-day summit agenda will include discussions on national sustainable development priorities and government commitments, with one day devoted to diabetes, as well as covering youth and NCDs, the Pacific NCD Roadmap, the Healthy Islands Vision Monitoring Framework and the role of the media in addressing this crisis.

“Despite all our current efforts and declarations, non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, cancers, lung disease and diabetes are still the leading cause of death in the Pacific accounting for up to 75 per cent of deaths,” the Pacific Community Director-General, Dr Colin Tukuitonga, said.

With the theme Translating Global and Regional Commitments into Local Action, the Pacific NCD Summit will be hosted at the Fa’onelua Convention Centre in Nuku’alofa.

The Summit agenda, programme for the opening and other information about the Pacific NCD Summit can be found online.

Related article: Tonga to host summit on non-communicable diseases in the Pacific [2]