Press Release

New funding to advance integrated care for people living with noncommunicable diseases

4 min read

Geneva.- The NCD Alliance is pleased to announced a new multi-year grant for 2026–2028 from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, reaffirming a longstanding collaboration to advance integrated care for people living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The new three-year grant, totalling more than US$6 million, will support the NCD Alliance to expand global advocacy efforts on NCDs and type 1 diabetes to build political momentum for health system strengthening and integrated care for people living with NCDs.

The NCD Alliance first received support from Helmsley in 2019 to advance their shared mission of improving lives and confronting the global epidemic of chronic NCDs, including type 1 diabetes. Over the past six years, the project has contributed to significant in-roads in raising political priority for NCDs as part of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) at the global level, as well as in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by supporting advocacy efforts of national and regional NCD alliances.

Katie Dain, CEO of the NCD Alliance, said: “NCDs cause an estimated 75% of all deaths globally, and out-of-pocket expenses for chronic conditions push millions into poverty each year. Many more people in LMICs are unable to treat or even diagnose their conditions. We look forward to another three years of support to tackle this injustice. We will demand change at the policy and health system levels to advance quality, affordable and integrated care for people living with NCDs.”

Dr Gina Agiostratidou, Director of Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes Program, said: “The NCD Alliance continues to show what’s possible when we work together across sectors and disease areas with purpose. In a year of major shifts in global health, the Alliance has been there at every turn — keeping NCDs high on the agenda and amplifying the voices of people with lived experience. Now we must build on this momentum to create a future where Health for All is a reality.”

At the global level the renewed grant will cover an important period — the immediate aftermath of the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health in September 2025 and a time of change and uncertainty within the broader global health agenda and architecture. The NCD Alliance will drive global campaigns to promote NCDs and health system strengthening for NCDs. In addition to global advocacy, a core strategy of the project to raise awareness and drive policy change will be to scale up support for civil society advocacy in a set of priority LMICs and regionally, through the unique network of national and regional NCD alliances, as well as promoting the meaningful involvement and voices of people living with NCDs.

Past years of the project have delivered notable achievements—from tackling fragmentation in NCD care and empowering grassroots advocates, to advancing progress toward universal health coverage. As NCDA’s main strategic partner, Helmsley played a pivotal role in the success of the fifth Global NCD Alliance Forum held earlier this year in Kigali, Rwanda. At the national and regional levels, investment through the NCDA Advocacy Institute between 2026-2028 will bolster the work of 3 regional alliances and 9 national alliances to drive local improvements, strengthen health systems, raise awareness and mobilise communities. The grant will also continue to support NCDA’s Our Views, Our Voices initiative, amplifying the voices and meaningful engagement of people living with NCDs, including Type 1 diabetes, across all levels of the NCD response.

Further information

jmarquez@ncdalliance.org

Mob: +34 686 160 725

The NCD Alliance (NCDA) is a registered non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Geneva, Switzerland, dedicated to supporting a world free from preventable suffering, disability and death caused by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Founded in 2009, NCDA brings together a unique network of over 500 members in more than 100 countries into a respected, united and credible global civil society movement. The movement is unified by the cross-cutting nature of common risk factors including unhealthy diets, alcohol, tobacco, air pollution and physical inactivity, and the system solutions for chronic NCDs such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes, mental health and neurological disorders.

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has granted more than $4.6 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. The Helmsley Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program is the largest private foundation funder in the world with a focus on T1D, with more than $1 billion to date granted to transform the trajectory of the disease and to accelerate access to 21st century care, everywhere. For more information on Helmsley and its programs.

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