Brussels, 15/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - At the United Nations plenary session on non-communicable diseases, in New York on Thursday 10 July, Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg pledged the willingness of the European Union to help in the fight against non-communicable diseases and the risk factors. It is vital that governments take account of the prevention and cure of these diseases in the overall reinforcement of their health systems and that they avoid fragmentation by creating separate activities related to individual diseases, the commissioner told the meeting. The time has come to take action and to move to the implementation of the priorities agreed in this field, he continued, adding that the European Union was looking forward to working with the WHO, the Global Coordination Mechanism on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, the inter-agency working groups of the UN, the states, civil society and non-state players to meet the global challenge of chronic diseases. Today, 86% of all deaths in the EU every year are due to non-communicable diseases (which include cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes and cancer), the commissioner said. The countries of the European Union earmark just 3% of their health budgets to prevention and 97% to treatment, whilst some €80 billion are spent on research, 10% of which goes on non-communicable diseases, Borg added. (IL)