This is the News in Brief from the United Nations. 

WHO calls for governments to promote benefits of exercise 

Nearly 500 million people will develop heart disease, obesity, diabetes or other noncommunicable diseases by 2030 simply because they do not exercise enough, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report published on Wednesday. 

The UN agency warned that the cost of inactivity will be severe, roughly $27 billion annually in extra healthcare costs, urging governments to promote the benefits of keeping fit. 

WHO’s first-ever global status report on physical activity measures the extent to which authorities are implementing recommendations to increase physical activity across all ages and abilities.  

Data from 194 countries show that overall, progress is slow and that countries need to step up policies that get people moving. 

WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said the benefits will be huge – not only for people’s physical and mental health, but also for societies, environments, and economies. 

Guterres highlights UN partnership with India in visit to the country 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is on a two-day visit to India.  

Mr. Guterres was at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, on Wednesday, where he discussed the partnership between the country and the UN. 

He said India’s upcoming presidency of the G20 - the world’s largest economies - will be an important opportunity to bring the values and vision of the developing world to the top table of the global economy.  

The UN chief also counted on India’s support in mobilizing G20 countries around debt relief 

While in India, the Secretary-General will also take part in an event celebrating the country’s 75th anniversary of independence.  

Next, he will travel to Viet Nam, where he will participate in a ceremony to commemorate the country’s 45th anniversary as a UN Member State. 

UNICEF fears for malnourished children in drought-stricken Somalia 

Thousands of severely malnourished boys and girls in Somalia are at risk of dying, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned, appealing for donors to step up support amid the historic drought affecting countries in the Horn of Africa. 

Agency Spokesperson James Elder reported that a child is admitted to a health facility for treatment of severe acute malnutrition “every single minute of every single day.” 

Latest rates reveal some 44,000 admissions since August, or one child a minute, he said, speaking this week in Geneva. 

Severely malnourished children are up to 11 times more likely to die of diarrhoea and measles than their well-nourished counterparts.  

Mr. Elder said, “with rates such as these, Somalia is on the brink of a tragedy at a scale not seen in decades.” 

Dianne Penn, UN News. 

MW