The NCD Alliance Supporters Consultation Group hosted this week editions of the NCD Cafe at the World Diabetes Congress in Vancouver, Canada, and the NCD Dialogues at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Cape Town, South Africa.

Both the NCD Café and the NCD Dialogues provide interactive platforms for open discussions on key topics in the field of NCDs and global health, as well as a space for networking with prominent expert and thought leaders, with an emphasis on partnership and collaboration.

The NCD Dialogues sessions at the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health on 2 December focused on tackling co-morbidities for optimal gain and multisectoral action for global tobacco control.  NCD Cafe sessions so far have addressed access to care, solutions for NCDs in vulnerable populations, patient engagement in the NCD response, and means to tackle NCD co-morbidities at the level of prevention and control.

Key messages have included the need to overcome the stigma and blame too often associated with NCDs in order to empower patients to assert their right to health, and the responsibility of the public and private sector to create opportunities for patients to shape the response; and around solutions to improve NCD prevention and control in children, the elderly, women, and indigenous populations through addressing the social determinants of health. Sessions today will focus on the WHO/ITU-led Be He@lthy Be Mobile Initiative, and translating global NCD policy into action at the national and regional level. A full programme is available to download here.