Hello and welcome to this week's edition of the NCD Alliance's newsletter! This week, we're focusing on leadership and equity. Don't miss out on our latest podcast episode featuring our president, Monika Arora, which is a wonderful addition to our Voices of the Health Revolution series and your playlists. Additionally, we're providing an updated calendar of side events at WHA77, along with more information about the Global NCDA Forum 2024 and much more. Read on...

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PODCAST: Bold Leadership for NCD Equity

Prevention is better than cure, and this couldn’t be truer when it comes to noncommunicable diseases. In this podcast, Dr Monika Arora, President of NCD Alliance and Executive Director of HRIDAY shares the facts about NCD prevention and how governments can show true leadership in protecting the health of their populations by implementing tried-and-true policies and programmes. She also shines a spotlight on health-harming industries, like junk food, tobacco and fossil fuels, and their interference in health policy-making in countries around the world. As we approach the 4th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health in 2025, Monika shares one key message with decision-makers everywhere: It’s time to take the lead on NCDs!

This podcast comes with a bonus: our host is Snehal Nandagawli, Chapter Lead at Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation & Global Diabetes Advocate, who adds her poignant perspectives to the conversation!

Updated information on WHA77 

As NCD advocates from around the globe are booking tickets to Geneva for the 77th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA77), taking place from 27 May to 1 June, we're keeping our dedicated event page up-to-date. This week, we've added new entries to our calendar of NCD-relevant side events. If you are planning an event and would like us to include it in our calendar, please submit your request here. Also, keep an eye on your inboxes for updated information on NCD Alliance-hosted events.

Visit our WHA77 event page

Looking towards the Global NCD Alliance Forum 2024 

As announced last week, the Global NCD Alliance Forum 2024 will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, on 20-22 October. We launched a website dedicated to the Forum where you will be able to find all the related updates. You can engage in the conversations around the Forum on social media by using #NCDAF2024.

Call for members of the WHO Civil Society Working Group on NCDs

The WHO Civil Society Working Group on NCDs (CSWG) is a WHO informal network of NCD-related civil society organizations (CSOs), established in 2017 to provide bold and at the same time practical recommendations to the WHO Director-General on key milestones in the global NCD agenda. Recently, WHO announced a call for civil society organisations to serve as additional members of the third cycle of the CSWG.

The goal of the third cycle is to promote, support and mobilize civil society advocacy across the milestones of the preparatory process leading to the fourth High-Level Meeting (HLM) of the United Nations General Assembly on NCDs, ‘the Road to 2025’, and relevant milestones in the follow-up to the HLM.

Care and crisis: Prioritising noncommunicable diseases in the humanitarian agenda

Living with noncommunicable diseases poses significant challenges, especially in humanitarian settings where health systems are strained and access to care is limited. Factors such as disrupted healthcare services, lack of medicines, and increased exposure to NCD risk factors exacerbate these challenges. 

Despite the high prevalence of NCD-related deaths in low- and middle-income countries facing humanitarian emergencies, NCD prevention and care have been historically overlooked. However, this is starting to change gradually. Read the reflections of Dr Ibtihal Fadhil from EMRO NCD Alliance and our Policy and Advocacy Director, Alisox Cox about the High-Level Technical Meeting dedicated to the topic and resources available for effective advocacy. 
 

Danish Red Cross launches pioneering project to tackle NCD care resilience in disaster-prone areas of Nepal

Danish Red Cross is proud to announce the launch of its newest project, “Strengthening NCD (noncommunicable disease) Care Resilience in Disaster-Prone Municipalities of Western Nepal”. The project is set to break new ground by integrating NCD care within the Anticipatory Action framework that emphasizes the urgent need for adaptive and inclusive solutions to the compounding problems that NCDs in disaster-vulnerable areas can bring.

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