MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. The closure of the WHO’s Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases in Moscow will have a negative impact on CIS countries, which have benefited from many of its projects, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Geneva Office Gennady Gatilov said on Monday.

"We cooperated with many countries and CIS nations were beneficiaries of our programs and projects. And as things stand now, these countries will suffer from the office’s closure and we will not be able to continue to take part in the study on this topic," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

According to Gatilov, the Moscow office operated quite efficiently, especially on what concerns combating noncommunicable diseases. "Our country is the leader in this sphere and for years we have offered our research on this topic," he stressed.

He said that the decision to shut down Moscow’s office was apparently politically motivated and was meant to exert extra pressure on Russia in the current environment. "We hope that this decision will be revised in the future and we will continue our active cooperation with the WHO Regional Office for Europe and with the entire World Health Organization," he stressed.

On May 15, the WHO Regional Office for Europe held a special session where the majority of delegates voted in favor of closing the Moscow Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases.

Noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of death in the WHO European region. Major diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory illnesses account for nearly 75% of all deaths in the region, which includes 53 countries of Europe and Central Asia.

Addressing the 76th World Health Assembly last Tuesday, Russian Deputy Health Minister Sergey Glagolev said that the Russian health ministry had requested that the WHO explain politicized violations of the organization’s procedures. As an example, he cited the ungrounded decision to deprive Russia of the right to host the WHO Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases. According to the Russian health official, the project geared to help countries in need combat these diseases "has been funded solely from Russia’s contributions in the past ten years." The office has become a global center of best practices, he explained.