International Conference on Healthy Lifestyles

rranean Region, and the Arab League, and representatives from the funds and programs and United Nations agencies, international financial institutions and development banks, and other major international organizations. The interest of the World Health Organization to organize this conference came after new evidence shows the big burden of non-communicable diseases in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, as malnutrition still remains a major health problem in some countries in the region, although obesity posed an increasingly health problem, in fact, the origin of the problems is the same, which are associated with malnutrition. Obesity is generally attributed to increased consumption of high fatty foods, and lack of physical activity, which may partly explain the high prevalence of obesity among women in the countries of the region

Obesity is associatied strongly with four main non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases), and accompanied by low productivity, and impose heavy costs on the families in the region, and on the budgets of health care also

Despite the significant improvement in the quality of live of women and men in the region and at a rapid pace which was unimaginable before 25 years ago, still women and men are more likely to die early compared to their counterparts in many other countries, based on current scientific information, and available evidence, and review of international experiences, the World Health Organization launched the World report on the status of non-communicable diseases for the year 2010 during the First Global Ministerial Conference on healthy lifestyles and control of noncommunicable diseases (Moscow, April / May 2011) This report is the first of its kind on the global burden of noncommunicable diseases, and its risk factors, and their determinants. This report was prepared for policy-makers in the field of health and development, and health officials and the various parties involved, it covers the surveillance and prevention based on population and health care, and ways to strengthen the capacity of countries to respond to the epidemic. The report also sets a baseline for monitoring trends of noncommunicable diseases in the future, to assess the progress made in countries dealing with the epidemic since 2010. The report also presents a brief overview of best practices in the areas of action against non-communicable diseases, which is: surveillance, prevention and health care