Our Goal
Access to NCD care: A right, not a privilege
We focus on strengthening health systems, integrating NCD services into Universal Health Coverage, and advancing policies that prioritise affordable, people-centred care.
While NCDs affect people everywhere, access to care is far from equal. Billions face delayed diagnosis, unaffordable treatment, or no care at all—especially in low-resource settings. Achieving health for all depends on closing this care gap through integrated, accessible and inclusive health systems.
Explore recent highlights of NCDA’s work on NCD Care
Advancing NCD integration in the 2023 Political Declaration on UHC
In 2023, NCDA led global advocacy into the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage, ensuring NCDs and mental health were recognised as essential to health systems strengthening. Fourteen advocates from 10 countries participated in official consultations, met with country missions, and helped shape the Political Declaration’s language.
The final Declaration made meaningful progress by reinforcing commitments to integrate NCDs into primary health care, expand financial protection, and advance people-centred services.
This global momentum was amplified by the 2023 Global Week for Action on NCDs, themed The Moment for Caring is Now which reached two million social media views, with 846 media mentions and 68 global events.
Watch and listen: Driving progress for equitable NCD care
"People living with NCDs are experts in their conditions; they are experts in the day-to-day interaction with health facilities and health systems... These people are also experts at providing suggestions for what would work optimally and what would be the best way to implement [Universal Health Coverage]."
Ensuring equity in the NCD response
In 2024, NCD Alliance Kenya (NCDAK) and the Healthy India Alliance (HIA)—both part of NCDA’s Accelerator Track—received grants to carry out national NCD equity assessments using NCDA’s conceptual framework and practical guide to health equity.
Through the Our Views, Our Voices initiative and the Advocacy Institute, both alliances established expert advisory groups and led inclusive research efforts. In Kenya and India, they gathered data from marginalised and underrepresented communities—such as refugees, ethnic minorities, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people in informal settlements, and those in detention—through surveys, interviews, and community dialogues.
The findings highlight the deep inequities in access to care and the human cost of exclusion. As one participant shared:
"I avoided going to the clinic because I was afraid of being judged for who I am. By the time I sought help, my condition had worsened.”
This work is now informing local advocacy and national planning—helping health systems better understand who is being left behind and how to deliver more inclusive, equitable care.
Country Spotlight
UHC becomes reality in Tanzania
After years of advocacy by national civil society including the Tanzania NCD Alliance (TANCDA), the country’s Universal Health Insurance bill was signed into law in 2023. This law protects the right to health services for all Tanzanians, regardless of ability to pay, and can be considered an inspiring example for other countries.
The legislation was passed unanimously, reflecting a collective commitment to healthcare reform. Notably, the health insurance scheme includes a special fund for people living with NCDs, finally ensuring access to treatment that was previously out of reach for many Tanzanians due to its prohibitively high cost.
TANCDA was part of the 2020-2023 NCD Alliance Advocacy Institute NCDs and UHC Accelerator programme. Through the Our Views, Our Voices initiative, TANCDA produced the Tanzania Advocacy Agenda of People living with NCD in 2021, which called for access to essential medical services and for financial risk protection.
