PD 03 - An Integrated Response to Obesity, Diabetes, and NCDs

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognised as a major challenge to health and sustainable human development in the 21st century. As the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, NCDs exact a heavy and growing toll on the health and economic security of all countries and disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in particular in low and middle-income countries. Without coordinated action at the highest political level, the escalating burden and cost of NCDs will weigh heavy across all pillars of sustainable development.

NCD investments, similar to investments in communicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance, maternal and child health and climate change, are investments in countries’ futures. Premature mortality and disability due to NCDs are largely preventable and cost-effective solutions, e.g. WHO’s Best Buys for prevention and control, are available to all Member States. However, weak high-level political action and chronically inadequate investment has hampered progress so far. Out of the 194 countries featured in the 2017 WHO Progress Monitor on NCDs, only 90 have guidelines for the management of major NCDs, which is an essential first step towards provision of effective care.

The 2018 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs (UN HLM) constitutes a major opportunity to elevate the challenge of implementing effective national responses and international cooperation on NCD prevention and control to the level of Heads of State and Heads of Government. It is time world leaders act and invest in NCDs to avoid preventable death and disability, protect human dignity and the right to health, fight poverty and social inequality and ensure sustained human development.

Objectives:

• To discuss the outcomes of the 2018 UN High-Level Meeting for greater action on NCDs, with a focus on obesity and diabetes;

• To explore opportunities to replicate evidence-based practices for NCD prevention and control and promote solutions for integrated healthcare delivery at national and regional levels;

• To present relevant approaches and successful examples to strengthen multistakeholder action on NCDs.