{"id":2462,"date":"2017-01-19T12:27:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T12:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/jeremiah-mwangi-director-of-policy-advocacy-blogs-on-the-importance-of-un-engagement-with-cardiovascular-health\/"},"modified":"2023-01-12T15:40:20","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T14:40:20","slug":"jeremiah-mwangi-director-of-policy-advocacy-blogs-on-the-importance-of-un-engagement-with-cardiovascular-health","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/jeremiah-mwangi-director-of-policy-advocacy-blogs-on-the-importance-of-un-engagement-with-cardiovascular-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeremiah Mwangi, Director of Policy & Advocacy, blogs on the importance of UN engagement with cardiovascular health."},"content":{"rendered":"
Popular perceptions of the United Nations can vary hugely, and often eclipse the UN\u2019s basic function as an international organization made up of 193 nations (known as \u2018Member States\u2019). It is through the United Nations that governments and experts can convene to take action on the major issues confronting humanity in the 21st<\/sup> century, such as peace and security, climate change and \u2013 crucially for the World Heart Federation \u2013 global health.<\/p>\n This is why the World Heart Federation advocated so loudly for NCDs to be addressed as a special issue at the United Nations, and why we were so pleased to participate in the first United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs back in 2011. (The 2011 meeting was truly historic, being only the second UN High-Level Meeting to focused on a health topic, the first having focused on HIV\/AIDS).<\/p>\n Since the 2011 High-Level Meeting on NCDs, we have seen a second High-Level Meeting in 2014. Both events, which occurred at UNHQ in New York City, attracted some of the international world\u2019s most influential figures, from Heads of State, to Prime Ministers, Ministers of Health, UN officials and leading NCD experts from civil society.<\/p>\n Discussions and agreements borne out in those High-Level meetings have either produced or strongly influenced many of the NCD policies and plans that we are familiar with today: the 2011 Political Declaration on NCDs<\/a><\/b>\u00a0; the WHO Global Action Plan 2013-2020<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>; the 2014 Global Monitoring Framework<\/a><\/b>. Indeed, it is arguable that the High-Level process at the United Nations significantly shaped our central CVD goal of \u201825 by 25\u2019.<\/p>\n With this in mind, we at the World Heart Federation look ahead to the next UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs \u2013 scheduled for 2018 \u2013 with nervous anticipation. Anticipation because we know first-hand how influential these meetings can be in setting and reinvigorating the NCD agenda; nervousness because we know that most countries are failing in their NCD response and need our support more than ever.<\/p>\n In short, the HLM 2018 presents an important opportunity for the CVD community. Through energetic and sustained advocacy, we have the power to ensure that governments and United Nations officials refocus their attention on heart-health, and deliver on their existing commitments (including \u201825 by 25\u2019).<\/p>\n