Employee Health Promotion Initiatives in Prevention of NCD’s

The 61st annual World Health Assembly is taking place this week in Geneva, Switzerland and at this assembly; the World Health Organization (WHO) is presenting its report titled “Preventing Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) in the Workplace through Diet and Physical Activity.”

The report calls for Employee Health Promotion Initiatives to be promoted and implemented worldwide.

Importance of Employee Health Promotion Initiatives

The report states that NCD related deaths have surpassed transferable disease related deaths and have become the leading global killers. Examples of NCD’s are heart disease, diabetes and stroke. In 2005, 60% of worldwide projected deaths were caused by non-communicable diseases. They are predicting that this health trend will continue through at least 2030.

Unhealthy diets, excessive caloric intake, lack of physical activity and tobacco use are the major risk factors in the cause of NCD’s. Now more than ever, the understanding of the importance of health and wellness is crucial.

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives are Effective Tools

The report states that Employee Health Promotion Initiatives are found to be effective in improving health-related risk factors, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes. The report also states that Employee Health Promotion Initiatives will improve the health of workers, improve the corporate image, improve staff member morale, reduce staff member absences and sick leave, increase staff member productivity, and reduce corporate healthcare costs.

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives Monitoring

Finally, the report mentions that to have a successful Employee Health Promotion Program, monitoring and evaluation through health risk assessments and health outcomes are essential and should be included in the Employee Health Promotion Program implementation. The evaluations ensure that the Employee Health Promotion Program developed meets the proper needs of the workers. Staff Members should be reevaluated on an on-going basis to make sure the Employee Health Promotion Program is still working, or to see if there are any adjustments that need to be made.