Geneva, Switzerland, 25 May 2016 - Activities at the 69th World Health Assembly are now well underway. Agenda item 12 on NCDs is due to be discussed starting today. Together with our federations and partners, NCD Alliance is hosting a wide range of side events during the week.

Events included a Civil Society Pre-Briefing on Sunday 22 May, two high-level panel discussions on financing for NCDs and nutrition, starring WHO Director-General Margaret Chan and Chef and Campaigner Jamie Oliver. A high-level roundtable event on workplace wellness and NCDs launched a new report on workplace wellness and NCDs. More information on our side events can be found here. 

• Click here to access to NCD Alliance's media pack for #WHA69, including advocacy briefing, infographics and sample messages for social media and relevant publications.
• For those unable to attend the Assembly in person, a live webcast is  available here. The Monday Journal describing the daily schedule is now online.
• For live updates follow #WHA69 and #NCDs

We are calling upon Member States to speed up resource mobilisation and to implement innovative and bold actions that address and prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Recent reporting on the global NCD targets shows an alarming lack of progress towards the 2025 targets. Most countries are not on track.

WHO and Member States must fast-track action in order to achieve the 2025 targets, by implementing the four time-bound national commitments on national NCD targets and national NCD plans, and by administering cost-effective interventions to reduce risk factors and strengthen health systems. Furthermore, it is critical that governments prioritise NCDs in regional and national development plans and frameworks.

“It is time to prioritise the biggest killers worldwide: NCDs. Resource mobilisation, civil society engagement and bold, innovative actions are urgently required, for all governments to achieve and support others to achieve the ambitious targets to which they have committed”, affirmed José Luis Castro, NCD Alliance Chair.

NCDs are one of the major health and development challenges of the 21st century, both in terms of the human suffering they cause and the adverse effects they have on universal sustainable development. As the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, NCDs impose a heavy and growing toll on the physical health and economic security of all countries, particularly low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, despite the imperative to act, insufficient progress has been made towards achieving NCD targets. This is partly due to delayed action on behalf of many Member States, to prevent and respond to NCDs.

Financing remains the Achilles heel of the NCD response. In order to achieve the 2025 and 2030 NCD goals, governments must strengthen efforts to raise domestic resources for health and NCDs, which includes adopting stringent measures such as the taxation of unhealthy products.

For some LMICs, domestic funds will need boosting by international development assistance. It is imperative that NCDs are integrated into multilateral and bilateral development assistance. Furthermore, the way in which ODA for health is tracked and reported must be improved for NCDs, through the inclusion of a purpose code in the OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS).

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions and predisposes individuals to develop NCDs later in life. Governments must endorse and implement the new WHO Guidance on curbing inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children, and mandate WHO with the development of a robust action plan, which encompasses a monitoring framework, to ensure full implementation of the comprehensive package of policy actions recommended by the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity.

The recently proclaimed UN Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016-2025 provides additional momentum to address malnutrition in all its forms, including calling on governments to make SMART political and financial commitments to curb NCDs, overweight and obesity. Download NCDA's infographic summarising our call on governments to implement SMART commitments as called for in the new NCD Alliance and World Cancer Research Fund International policy brief on SMART commitments for NCDs, Overweight & Obesity.