PD 02 - Noncommunicable Diseases

As the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognized as a major challenge to health and sustainable human development in the 21st century. Half of those who die of NCDs are in the prime of their productive years, and thus, the disability imposed and the lives lost are adversely affecting communities, businesses and governments through losses in macroeconomic productivity, national income, healthcare budgets and household income.

While the economic and social burden of NCDs is immense, the financial investment to alleviate this burden on patients, families and carers is comparatively small. Immediate actions to reduce the burden caused by NCDs include action to address the main risk factors (tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets, and physical inactivity), and strengthening health systems to better respond to NCDs. Many of the interventions recommended by the WHO, the so-called ‘best buys for NCDs’, are very cost-effective even for LMICs, with price tags as low as 0.20 USD per capita/year for population-based policies and other measures.

Despite previous high-level commitments to strengthen national NCD responses and evidence-based recommendations for cost-effective action, progress at national levels remains insufficient and uneven. At the current pace, countries will not achieve the global ’25 by 25’ NCD goal. In view of the upcoming 2018 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs, there is a need to address common barriers and bottlenecks and explore common success factors and catalytic strategies applicable to different economic settings to support the implementation of effective NCD prevention policies and sustainable health systems for NCDs globally.