The rise of chronic diseases such as cancer, stroke and diabetes is a real challenge to this globalized world, said an official of the World Health Organization (WHO) here Thursday.

At the opening of the first Technical Meeting for WHO Collaborating Centers for Health Promotion held in Singapore, Robert Beaglehole, director of the Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion Department of WHO, said that countries in the world need to strengthen health promotion measures to face the challenge.

"All governments must be prepared to deal with the infectious diseases because they could be overwhelming this year or next year, but the long-term problem is with the chronic diseases," Beaglehole told Xinhua.

He said China is expected to lose over 300 billion U.S. dollars in the next 10 years to the impacts of these chronic diseases on production, particularly because of the high death rate in middle- aged people.

"The government's role in health promotion is central and critical, particularly in terms of providing leadership, providing directions, making sure that these chronic diseases, for example, are high on the agenda," he noted.

The Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World, adopted at the 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion in August last year, laid down four challenging and ambitious commitments, according to Beaglehole.

It aims to make health promotion central to the global development agenda, a core responsibility for all governments, a key focus of communities and civil society, as well as a requirement for good corporate practice.

A total of 58 participants and observers are attending the three-day meeting. They will be discussing the action plan of the Bangkok Charter and other related topics.

Source: Xinhua