This constituency statement was led and delivered by the International Society of Nephrology, with contributions from the World Heart Federation, under agenda item 12.1 – Noncommunicable Diseases – at the Seventy-Ninth World Health Assembly.
Distinguished Delegates,
We speak on behalf of a constituency committed to advancing action on circulatory health—an integrated approach to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and chronic respiratory conditions, which share common risk factors, including occupational risk factors, and pathways, many also linked to oral diseases.
Together these conditions account for the largest share of NCD mortality and disability and are increasingly experienced as multimorbidity.
We welcome the 2025 Political Declaration and its focus on prevention, early detection, people-centered care, and stronger primary health systems. Yet declarations do not save lives—implementation does.
Achieving SDG 3.4 and SDG 3.8 requires coordinated action across the life course, including efforts to achieve hypertension control for 150 million more people by 2030, to advance progress beyond current targets.
Health systems remain fragmented while people live with multiple, interconnected conditions. Integrated, person-centered primary care is the safest, most effective and cost-efficient pathway to reducing premature mortality and advancing universal health coverage.
We call on Member States to:
- Integrate circulatory health into national NCD strategies and UHC benefit packages,
- Scale up prevention and early detection through primary care, public health, and occupational health interventions,
- Expand equitable access to essential medicines, diagnostics, technologies, and a trained health workforce
- Engage people living with NCDs in policy design and implementation.
We also call on WHO to strengthen global monitoring and accountability, including patient engagement across its NCD architecture.
Thank you.
Co-signing NSAs:
- International Society of Nephrology (ISN)– Lead
- International Diabetes Federation (IDF)
- World Stroke Organization (WSO)
- International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO)
- International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH)
- World Heart Federation (WHF)
- International Association for Dental Research (IADR)
- World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA)
- International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH)
- Global Diagnostic Imaging Healthcare IT and Radiation Therapy Trade Association (DITTA)
- World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI)
