Financing on the agenda as we mark four months to the Global Week for Action
21st June 2024
This week marks the four-month countdown to 2024’s Global Week for Action on NCDs and the Global NCD Alliance Forum – which happens to fall on the same days of a pivotal global dialogue on NCD financing.
The International Dialogue on Sustainable Financing for NCDs and Mental Health is a high-level technical meeting which explores how countries can take the lead in financing NCDs and mental health.
Organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, the meeting is the second instalment of a series started in 2018 focussing on the status of NCD financing. It marks a key moment for leaders to move forward the financing solutions and policy agendas ahead of the fourth UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2025.
This week we also mark the milestone of four months to the Global Week for Action on NCDs which will run 15-22 October and coincide with the Global NCD Alliance Forum in Kigali, Rwanda (20-22 October). Under the banner of Time to lead, the campaign is calling on leaders worldwide to step forward and champion efforts to reduce the impact of NCDs on communities and countries.
Investing in NCD prevention and treatment is urgent and imperative, with huge benefits across various health and development agendas.
NCD Alliance Policy and Advocacy Director, Alison Cox, who is attending the Financing Dialogue in Washington, said:
"According to the 2022 Lancet NCD Countdown 2030, implementing a comprehensive package of 21 NCD prevention and treatment interventions would require an additional $140 billion in new spending over 2023-2030. This investment is projected to avert 39 million deaths and generate a net economic benefit of $2.7 trillion – a benefit that outweighs costs by 19 to one.”
Effective solutions to fund the NCD response are crucial for global health and development. These include domestic resource mobilization with increased health spending and fiscal policies, international development financing, private and philanthropic contributions, and the establishment of agreed targets.
NCDs represent far more than a health issue – they are a poverty, equity, human rights, and sustainable development issue, disproportionately burdening the poorest and most vulnerable populations with disease, disability, and death.
To support advocacy for effective NCD financing solutions, a range of resources including summaries, case studies and policy briefs have been made available.
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Getting fiscal policies right: lessons and recommendations across NCD risk factors - an executive summary of a soon to be released NCD Alliance policy brief on fiscal policies for NCDs.
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Tracking NCD funding flows: Urgent calls and global solutions - this report analyses the breakdown of development assistance going to NCDs as well as development assistance for health going towards NCD policies and services in relation to other global health priorities, elaborating on case studies and recommendations to improve integrated international investment for NCDs.
- Everybody's Business - a series on bold actions to close the NCD funding gap.
- Official Development Assistance for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer in Western Pacific – Everybody's Business
- UN Health4Life Fund - Everybody's Business
- The Philippines national NCD investment - Everybody's Business
- Event Report: Sustainable Financing for NCDs: Paving a way forward by learning from progress at country level - an overview of the context and key take-away points of the roundtable on sustainable financing for NCDs co-hosted by Access Accelerated, NCD Alliance, and World Diabetes Foundation on the sidelines of the 77th Session of the World Health Assembly (WHA77).
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World Bank takes 5-point approach to financing NCDs and mental health - in this podcast, we hear from two sources of leadership that will be key as the global NCD community works toward the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs.
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Event Report: Integrating health financing to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and NCD Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets - highlights from an NCDA-led financing roundtable event held on the sides of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly and the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
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Financing Solutions for NCDs and Mental Health - a working draft policy brief that outlines NCDA's key advocacy priorities for NCD financing.
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Spending Wisely: Exploring the economic and societal benefits of integrating HIV/AIDS and NCDs service delivery
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Invest to Protect: NCD financing as the foundation for healthy societies and economies
Governments can reap substantial economic rewards, in both the short- and long-run, by taking bold action on NCDs and thus ensuring the fiscal sustainability of their health systems. This requires a view of health as an investment not a cost, and one that requires long-term thinking.
