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STORY: WHO / GLOBAL HEALTH ISSUES
TRT: 07:49
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WHO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 SEPTEMBER 2025, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior WHO Headquarters
18 SEPTEMBER 2025, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“NCDs are the world’s leading causes of premature death, killing 18 million people every year before the age of 70. In addition, more than 1 billion people face mental health conditions, and suicide is the third-leading cause of death among young people. Apart from cutting lives short and robbing families of their loved ones, these deaths also incur huge costs for health systems and economies.”
4. Wide shot, press room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The main outcome of next week’s high-level meeting will be a political declaration, which countries have been negotiating for the past year. The draft declaration includes concrete and ambitious targets: To see 150 million fewer tobacco users by 2030; To see 150 million more people with access to mental health care; And to see 150 million more people with hypertension control.”
6. Wide shot, press room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We call them the ‘Best Buys.’ These include raising taxes on tobacco and alcohol, protecting children from the marketing of unhealthy food, promoting physical activity, improving diets, and screening for cancer. They are all proven, practical, and ready to use. Today, we are launching a new investment case for NCDs, which shows that implementing these ‘Best Buys’ would cost countries about 3 US dollars per person, per year. We estimate that for every dollar countries invest in the ‘Best Buys,’ they can expect up to a seven-dollar return in social and economic benefits. By 2030, fully implementing these ‘Best Buys’ could save 12 million lives, prevent up to 28 million heart attacks and strokes, and generate over one trillion US dollars in economic benefits.”
8. Wide shot, press room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Brazil has cut smoking rates in half by steadily increasing tobacco taxes. Mexico’s tax on sugary drinks reduced consumption while raising significant government revenue. Thailand channels tobacco and alcohol taxes into its national health promotion foundation. There are many more examples, which show that with the right policies, change is not only possible – it is transformative. Investing in NCD prevention is not a cost – it is one of the smartest economic decisions any government can make.”
10. Wide shot, press room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“It’s been two weeks since the Government of the DRC declared an Ebola outbreak was declared, near the central town of Bulape. So far, 48 confirmed and probable cases have been reported, and 31 people have died. I congratulate the government, the Ministry of Health, and DRC’s institutions for their leadership in this response. Years of investment and experience are paying off. WHO and our partners are supporting the government. So far, we have delivered more than 14 tons of essential medical equipment and supplies and deployed 48 experts. More than 900 contacts have been listed and are being followed up. Vaccination of contacts, potential contacts and frontline workers is underway. We’ve also helped to set up an Ebola treatment centre with 48 beds, with 16 patients currently being treated. Courses of the monoclonal antibody therapy Mab114 have also been sent to treatment centres in Bulape, and so far, 14 patients have been received the drug. And on Tuesday this week, the first two patients to recover were discharged. This week, WHO launched an appeal for 21 million US. dollars to support DRC to scale up its response. We ask donors to support this response. Your investment now will help to save lives and stop this outbreak at the source.”
12. Wide shot, press room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Jeremy Farrar, Assistant Director-General, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Control, World Health Organization (WHO):
“There is no country on earth that isn't in now and in the coming years going to be challenged with the issues of noncommunicable diseases and mental health. Demographic shifts, multi morbidity, where people have more than one condition is going to be an issue for health systems all around the world, including in the richest countries of the world.”
14. Wide shot, press room
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Rik Peeperkorn, Representative, West Bank and Gaza, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Service could shut down within days without urgent replenishment. The hospitals require at least 350 units of blood daily, due to the ongoing violence, especially related to the ongoing bombardments, in specifically in the north, but also accessing food, food distribution sites and convoys. The hospitals in Gaza City, they have become hellscapes. They are overwhelmed. They are low on supplies, patients on the floor, patients actually everywhere. And I just want to remind everyone, almost half of all functional hospitals are in Gaza City. So, if these hospitals are put out of services, it means that 36 percent of all hospital beds, but over 50 percent of the ICU beds in the Gaza Strip will be lost.”
16. Wide shot, press room
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Rik Peeperkorn, Representative, West Bank and Gaza, World Health Organization (WHO):
“The whole of Gaza Strip, 365 square kilometres. The humanitarian zone, the so-called humanitarian zone, is only 43 square kilometres is 12 percent - less than 12 percent - of the Gaza Strip. And that 12 percent only includes 77 of the 229 functional health service points. Only three of the 17 hospitals, five of the ten field hospitals, 20 of the 68 primary health care units, and only 42 of the 112 medical points and seven of the 22 ambulance centres.”
18. Wide shot, press room
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Rik Peeperkorn, Representative, West Bank and Gaza, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We see catastrophic, catastrophic consequences on the Gaza City offensive on sexual reproductive health services for women and girls. The access to care is increasingly constrained as families must travel long distances on damaged roads, limited supplies, etcetera. In Gaza, women always used to deliver at health facilities, and in the first seven months of 2025, we almost see 500 deliveries which took place outside hospitals. We see way too many pre-term babies, too small. Incredibly worrisome.”
20. Wide shot, press room
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, today (18 Sep) said non-communicable diseases (NCDs) “are the world’s leading causes of premature death, killing 18 million people every year before the age of 70.”
In addition, Dr. Tedros said, “more than 1 billion people face mental health conditions, and suicide is the third-leading cause of death among young people,” and added that “apart from cutting lives short and robbing families of their loved ones, these deaths also incur huge costs for health systems and economies.”
The WHO Director-General told reporters in Geneva that the draft declaration expected from next week’s WHO high-level meeting “includes concrete and ambitious targets: To see 150 million fewer tobacco users by 2030; To see 150 million more people with access to mental health care; And to see 150 million more people with hypertension control.”
He said, “we call them the ‘Best Buys.’ These include raising taxes on tobacco and alcohol, protecting children from the marketing of unhealthy food, promoting physical activity, improving diets, and screening for cancer. They are all proven, practical, and ready to use.”
Tedros said, “we estimate that for every dollar countries invest in the ‘Best Buys,’ they can expect up to a seven-dollar return in social and economic benefits. By 2030, fully implementing these ‘Best Buys’ could save 12 million lives, prevent up to 28 million heart attacks and strokes, and generate over one trillion US dollars in economic benefits.”
He noted that “Brazil has cut smoking rates in half by steadily increasing tobacco taxes,” while “Mexico’s tax on sugary drinks reduced consumption while raising significant government revenue,” and “Thailand channels tobacco and alcohol taxes into its national health promotion foundation.”
Tedros said, “investing in NCD prevention is not a cost – it is one of the smartest economic decisions any government can make.”
Turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), he said “it’s been two weeks since the Government of the DRC declared an Ebola outbreak was declared, near the central town of Bulape. So far, 48 confirmed and probable cases have been reported, and 31 people have died.”
Tedros said, “years of investment and experience are paying off. WHO and our partners are supporting the government. So far, we have delivered more than 14 tons of essential medical equipment and supplies and deployed 48 experts. More than 900 contacts have been listed and are being followed up. Vaccination of contacts, potential contacts and frontline workers is underway. We’ve also helped to set up an Ebola treatment centre with 48 beds, with 16 patients currently being treated. Courses of the monoclonal antibody therapy Mab114 have also been sent to treatment centres in Bulape, and so far, 14 patients have been received the drug. And on Tuesday this week, the first two patients to recover were discharged. This week, WHO launched an appeal for 21 million US. dollars to support DRC to scale up its response. We ask donors to support this response. Your investment now will help to save lives and stop this outbreak at the source.”
For his part, Assistant Director-General for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Control, Dr Jeremy Farrar, said, “there is no country on earth that isn't in now and in the coming years going to be challenged with the issues of noncommunicable diseases and mental health. Demographic shifts, multi morbidity, where people have more than one condition is going to be an issue for health systems all around the world, including in the richest countries of the world.”
Briefing via video teleconference, WHO’s representative in the West Bank and Gaza, Dr Rik Peeperkorn said, “service could shut down within days without urgent replenishment. The hospitals require at least 350 units of blood daily, due to the ongoing violence, especially related to the ongoing bombardments, in specifically in the north, but also accessing food, food distribution sites and convoys. The hospitals in Gaza City, they have become hellscapes. They are overwhelmed. They are low on supplies, patients on the floor, patients actually everywhere. And I just want to remind everyone, almost half of all functional hospitals are in Gaza City. So, if these hospitals are put out of services, it means that 36 percent of all hospital beds, but over 50 percent of the ICU beds in the Gaza Strip will be lost.”
Peeperkorn said, “the whole of Gaza Strip, 365 square kilometres. The humanitarian zone, the so-called humanitarian zone, is only 43 square kilometres is 12 percent - less than 12 percent - of the Gaza Strip. And that 12 percent only includes 77 of the 229 functional health service points. Only three of the 17 hospitals, five of the ten field hospitals, 20 of the 68 primary health care units, and only 42 of the 112 medical points and seven of the 22 ambulance centres.”
He said, “we see catastrophic, catastrophic consequences on the Gaza City offensive on sexual reproductive health services for women and girls. The access to care is increasingly constrained as families must travel long distances on damaged roads, limited supplies, etcetera. In Gaza, women always used to deliver at health facilities, and in the first seven months of 2025, we almost see 500 deliveries which took place outside hospitals. We see way too many pre-term babies, too small. Incredibly worrisome.”
