On 5 July, the President of the UN General Assembly and the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an interactive hearing with non-state actors as part of the preparatory process for the Third UN High Level Meeting on NCDs on 27 September 2018.
The hearing was an opportunity for civil society and other stakeholders to share their recommendations for the outcome of the UN HLM with Member States, to provide feedback on the zero draft elements paper, and to urge governments to give higher priority to NCDs ahead of the meeting in September.
WHF was well represented at the hearing, with Advocacy Director Florence Berteletti contributing a statement on behalf of the Federation, and Beatriz Champagne, Director of the InterAmerican Heart Foundation and member of the WHF Advocacy Expert Group, participating in a panel on “Political leadership and accountability”.
WHF Call to Political Leaders
The World Heart Federation made a statement calling on political leaders to commit to action in three key areas that can have an immediate and long-lasting impact to reduce CVD risk throughout the life course:
- Ensure that Heads of State, Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Development and Health attend the High-level Meeting on 27th September to commit to better health and improved economic development in their countries.
- Make access to screening and essential medicines available in all countries so that people who live with NCDs, including hypertension, and are at high risk of heart attack and stroke don’t die unnecessarily.
- Introduce or increase taxes on unhealthy commodities such as tobacco products, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages to ensure that these products are less affordable. Governments of low and middle-income countries should also consider earmarking resources raised from these taxes to invest in Universal Health Coverage.
