The government is planning to make cancer a “notifiable disease”, which will mean every case will have to be reported. Till now infectious diseases like polio, plague, H1N1, H5N1 (bird flu) figure in the list of notifiable diseases. Recently, tuberculosis was made a notifiable disease. Cancer would become the first non-communicable disease to be included in the same category.

Officials in the Union health ministry disclosed that government is seriously considering to make cancer a notifiable disease and the decision in this regard will be taken very soon.

An alarming increase in Non Communicable Diseases viz. high blood pressure, arthritis and cholesterol, has been detected among school children, an expert warned.

CMC Ayurveda Department Chief Medical Officer Dr.Padma Shanthi revealed that over 80 percent of schoolchildren treated at 20 dispensaries in the city have Non Communicable Diseases, which she attributed to amongst others, environmental pollution, stress and consumption of fast foods.

The world health statistics 2012 report, released by the World Health Organisation on Thursday, focuses on the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across the world.

The report says that one in three adults worldwide has high blood pressure, which is directly responsible for a majority of deaths from strokes and heart disease. The report also points out that one in 10 adults globally has diabetes.

It is not in the interest of food companies to advertise what their products contain, but it is in our interest to know

Junk food is junk by its very definition. But how bad is it and what is it that companies do not tell people about this food? This is what the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) laboratory checked. The results were both predictable and alarming. Equally predictable was the response of big food companies and their spokespersons — denials and dismissals. But they are missing the point.

The Sri Lankan government Wednesday launched a public health program to alleviate the malnutrition in the country and control the no-communicable diseases among the country's population.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa launching the "Mihi Meth Suwa Sara" program at the Temple Trees today said the government targets to build a healthy nation of sound mind and body and will provide the necessary strength through quality health service while developing the country as a whole.