On 21 September 2022, the President of Ghana, the Prime Minister of Norway, and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus honoured their commitment of convening the first ever Annual Gathering of a Heads of State and Government Group for the Prevention and Control of NCDs at the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Heads of State and Government Group was established on 12 April 2022 in Ghana, following the launch of the Global NCD Compact, and pledged to accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.4 which aims to reduce by one-third premature death from non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, by 2030.
Representatives from countries that champion the global NCD agenda, including the Prime Minister of Barbados, Prime Minister of Mauritius, Prime Minister of Samoa, Prime Minister of Tonga, and State Secretary of Germany on behalf of the G7, highlighted the importance of delivering on the five areas of commitment set by the Global NCD Compact, namely:
- Averting 50 million premature deaths from NCDs by 2030 through the implementation of the most cost-effective interventions to prevent and control NCDs
- Protecting each and every one of the 1.7 billion people living with NCDs by guaranteeing access to medicines and care, even during humanitarian emergencies
- Integrating NCD prevention and interventions within primary healthcare and universal health coverage (UHC)
- Ensuring comprehensive NCD surveillance and monitoring
- Involving the 1.7 billion people living with NCDs and mental health conditions in policy decision-making and programming.
Unfortunately, the civil society was not invited to the Heads of State and Government Group meeting in September. Nonetheless, non-governmental organizations will have an opportunity to be heard at the multistakeholder and multisectoral dialogue on the Global NCD Compact on 7 October 2022. The Multistakeholder Gathering will aim to:
- Highlight the roles of a range of stakeholders in the prevention and control of NCDs within the national and global SDG response, including future pandemic preparedness
- Deliberate on the Global NCD Compact and develop consensus as well as potential collaborative actions on NCDs, UHC, and SDGs
- Discuss the best ways to capitalize on the multistakeholder collective in order to galvanize as well as support national and global actions on NCDs, UHC, and the SDGs
As always, the World Heart Federation will represent the global CVD community and ensure that its position and needs are acknowledged.
