Yesterday, a historic 70th World Health Assembly that will be remembered for the election of WHO's next Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom concluded in Geneva. 

In an indication of the growing recognition and momentum around NCDs as a global health and development priority to Member States, civil society, and relevant private sector, there were at least 26 NCD-themed side events throughout the 70th World Health Assembly, and many more that touched on addressing NCDs in broader health contexts. 

In the official WHO programme, the NCD Alliance and partners delivered 12 statements on NCDs and cross-cutting issues including cancer, dementia, nutrition, management of chemicals, health of refugees and migrants, and the 2030 Agenda.

The NCD community's advocacy messages permeated through #WHA70 social media chatter as well, where 92,672 tweets were shared by 25,921 global participants. Analytics place NCDA as a top 10 #WHA70 Twitter influencer; #NCDs appeared in the top 5 hashtags related to #WHA70; NCDA was among #WHA70's top 10 tweeters; and NCDA's relevance was evident as one of the top 5 twitter accounts mentioned by others linked to #WHA70.

NCDA would like to thank advocates present in Geneva and those working around the world for ensuring the voice of the NCD community was heard both on the ground and online. 

Policy wins to drive action on NCDs

The Assembly began its discussions on Agenda item 15 on NCDs in Committee B on Friday and concluded its NCD-related discussions on Tuesday night after convening two drafting groups on agenda sub-items 15.1 (Preparations for the 2018 UN High-level Meeting on NCDs) and 15.5 (WHO Implementation Plan on Ending Childhood Obesity).

Strong wins for NCDs include the endorsement of WHO’s updated set of cost-effective policy options and interventions for NCD prevention and control (Appendix III), the endorsement of the global action plan on the public health response to dementia, the adoption of a resolution on cancer, as well as the adoption of a decision to welcome the WHO Implementation Plan on Ending Childhood Obesity.

15.1 Preparations for the 2018 UN High-level Meeting on NCDs

After lengthy discussions in a drafting group Member States adopted a resolution based on EB140.R7 which endorsed the updated Appendix III of the Global NCD Action Plan. Having voiced strong opposition, the US dissociated themselves from the resolution, a rare occurrence at the WHA. Read more here.

The endorsement of Appendix III sent a strong message re-affirming Member States’ commitment to evidence-based action on NCDs and to protection of policy-making from industry interference. Delegates also highlighted the ongoing preparations for the 2018 High-level Meeting on NCDs and the upcoming WHO Global Conference on NCDs in Uruguay in October.

15.2 Global action plan on the public health response to dementia 2017-2025 

Endorsement of the global action plan on dementia signals political will to reduce the risk of dementia and to improve diagnosis, treatment and care around the world. Member States committed to developing ambitious national strategies and implementation plans. 

Alzheimer’s Disease International and NCDA called on Member States to swiftly develop integrated national plans with costed activities and adequate budgets, and time-bound targets to drive and monitor progress, and to directly involve persons living with dementia in national planning.

15.4 Outcome of the Second International Conference on Nutrition

A large number of delegates took the floor to highlight progress and challenges at the national level in the implementation of their commitments at the 2nd International Conference on Nutrition. 

Ecuador and Brazil announced commitments toward the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition and NCDA and World Cancer Research Fund International called on other Member States to make SMART commitments for diet-related NCDs, obesity and overweight.

15.5 Implementation Plan on Ending Childhood Obesity

After strong support to endorse the plan from a large number of Member States, but facing insurmountable opposition from the US, the Assembly arrived at a consensus to “welcome” the ECHO implementation plan.

The plan was developed to implement recommendations made by the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity to reverse the rising trend of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents by focusing on addressing the obesogenic environment through individual, regulatory and fiscal measures.

15.6 Cancer prevention and control in the context of an integrated approach

The now adopted 2017 cancer resolution, warmly welcomed by UICC and NCDA, provides countries with updated and integrated guidance on health promotion and risk factor reduction, with particular emphasis on the tobacco control policies laid out in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and anti-cancer vaccines. The resolution also highlights the need to address inequity in access to early detection, and timely and appropriate treatment, including pain relief and palliative care.

New is the emphasis on integration of cancer efforts across national health plans and the call for scale up of activities in line with the SDGs.

Join NCDA's June 6th webinar for more NCD updates from the 70th WHA and 141st Executive Board

To cover all the areas above in more detail, together with additional information on 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Global Strategy on Women, Children, and Adolescents’ Health, chemicals management, migrants’ health, and rheumatic heart disease, the NCD Alliance will host our next webinar on Tuesday 6 June 16:00-17.30 CET.

Register for the upcoming webinar here