The Maldives Non-Communicable Disease Alliance was officially registered under the Maldives Associations Act of 2003, at the Ministry of Home Affairs, on 28 September 2017.

The founding organisations and the members representing the founding organisations as founder members of the Maldives NCD Alliance are:

• Ms. Aishath Shiruhana (CEO) - Diabetes Society of Maldives (DSM)
• Mr. Ali Muaz (Co-Founder) - Tiny Hearts of Maldives (THM)
• Dr. Abdul Malik (Co- Founder) - Cancer Society of Maldives (CSM)

The Maldives NCD Alliance was formed with the objective of working collaboratively to combat NCDs in the Maldives. Additional membership registrations to join the Alliance will be opened to all NGOs, institutions and organisations working towards controlling NCDs in the Maldives.

The first formal representation of the Maldives NCD Alliance was at the 2nd Global NCD Alliance Forum, Sharjah UAE, in December 2017, upon invitation from the NCD Alliance.

Dr. Abdul Malik (Co-Founder) and Ms. Naila Abdul Majeed (Member) attended this very informative meeting where the Maldives NCD Alliance was introduced to fellow NCD advocates from around the world.

The Maldives NCD Alliance’s strategic priority areas for 2018 include policy advocacy for NCD control, control of childhood obesity, reduction and control of consumption of sugar sweetened beverages and the promotion of sustainable healthy diets, with a special focus on strengthening national health data on NCDs through research and advocacy.

As one of its first official activities, the Maldives NCD Alliance held a policy advocacy introductory meeting with the Minister of Health accompanied by the State Minister of Health, Permanent Secretary of Health and the Director General of Public Health along with senior staff of the NCD Division of Health Protection Agency.

Discussions covered ways in which to collaborate with the Ministry of Health and the Health Protection Agency. In addition, the alliance advocated for a High-Level Delegation to participate at the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in September.

The Government of Maldives has made NCD control a priority area and constituted a multi-stakeholder NCD High Level-Steering Committee, chaired by the Minister of Health, to advise on the implementation of NCD control initiatives. The Co-Founder of the Maldives NCD Alliance, Dr Abdul Malik, has been appointed to this committee as the civil society representative, opening avenues for our voices to be heard and reflected at policy decision-making level. The alliance aims to utilise this platform for policy-level advocacy to address NCD prevention and control using the WHO best buys.

The Maldives NCD Alliance will continue to advocate and work on prevention and control of NCDs in the Maldives with support and collaboration from other NCD alliances.