Rev. 3 of the HLM4 Political Declaration - NCDA Priority Asks

Rev3 is the draft of the Political Declaration before it went into silence on August 4. NCD Alliance expresses its concern and regret that Member States have weakened and watered down the text where action is needed to reach SDG 3.4. 

We welcome the retention of the fast-track targets but are deeply concerned about the weakening of the tracer targets and the removal of references to the 2030 targets in the current text. 

The removal of a specific target on taxes on health-harming products and the weakening of the language and omission of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes undermine the commitment to proven, impactful, and widely supported health tax policies that could significantly benefit public health and national economies.

To avoid further dilution of the language and weakening the targets, we call for the silence to be maintained. In case the silence is broken, we call on Member States to protect the text from further watering down.

We urge advocates to contact your Ministry of Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Permanent Mission in New York to demand a strong, measurable and evidence-based declaration.