Countries implementing about half of WHO recommendations

About half of the recommendations suggested by the World Health Organization to reduce chronic disease are put into practice, according to a new study.

Implementation is slowly improving, yet alcohol and tobacco policies are the least widely practiced, researchers report in The Lancet Global Health.

“It’s a matter of holding countries accountable for their international commitments and speaking truth to power when they fail to take action,” said Dr. Luke Allen of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, who led the research.

Non-communicable diseases, like cancer and heart disease, account for 73% of deaths globally, the . . .