NCDs and mental health are a top priority for WHO. This week's 150th WHO Executive Board saw a huge focus on NCDs. Under Agenda item 7, Political declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of NCDs, WHO brought 10 focused areas for Member States to discuss.

Following two days of engaged interventions from WHO Member States, UN agencies and Non-State Actors, I am delighted to share that the Executive Board unanimously agreed to request the 75th World Health Assembly to adopt the relevant Annexes.

Progress on NCDs is critical to achieve global development goals. The world remains off-track to achieve SDG target 3.4. COVID-19 is widening inequalities for people living with NCDs and mental health conditions, with their essential services among the most commonly disrupted by the pandemic. Progress on mental health to date is not enough to achieve global objectives in WHO’s Mental Health Action Plan, with only one in four WHO Member States reporting integrated mental health in their primary health care.

These agreements will support countries to accelerate and implement actions to improve NCD outcomes. Together, they help WHO to progress against our first 'Triple Billion' target, of one billion more people benefiting from universal health coverage by 2023 and reducing premature deaths.

The 10 activities were debated in three groups. Below, I share some information about each group. You can learn more by reading agenda item 7 of EB150, or by listening to the recordings.

If you have any questions about the last two days, or about how we work with Member States to drive action on NCDs, please do reach out to me on the Implementation Roadmap, Progress report, NCDs in Humanitarian emergencies, Diabetes and Oral Health.

As before, please also contact my colleagues: Fransesco Branca for information on obesity; Nono Simelela on our Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative; Devora Kestel for information about mental health, neurological conditions and the draft global action plan for alcohol; Ruediger Krech on alcohol; and Svetlana Akselrod for the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of NCDs, respectively.

GROUPING 1

A ROADMAP FOR ACHIEVING SDG TARGET 3.4, NCDs IN HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES, 5 x 5 PROGRESS, AND GCM/NCD's WORK

Grouping 1, discussed on Wednesday 26 January, explored four key issues for NCDs. These were:

• A proposed implementation roadmap to accelerate progress towards SDG target 3.4, recognizing we remain off-track globally to do so. The roadmap sets the priority to accelerate national responses based on: the contextual understanding of barriers and enablers in countries; implementing the most impactful and feasible interventions; and ensuring reliable data on NCDs.

• Recommendations we have drafted to strengthen policy responses for people living with NCDs in humanitarian emergencies. These draft recommendations cover how NCDs should be integrated in global responses to COVID-19, and more broadly in all hazards for people living in vulnerable and humanitarian settings. These recommendations will only become more necessary with COVID-19 and our changing climate.

• Reporting progress in our work on NCDs and mental health, with interest from Member States in the range of strategies adopted by countries globally to build NCD and mental health mitigation strategies in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• A proposed draft workplan for the Global Coordination Mechanism on the prevention and control of NCDs (GCM/NCD), reflecting that the terms of reference for GCM/NCD were recently extended until 2030, with plans for a mid-term evaluation in 2025.

All items were adopted unanimously.

2021 was a colossal year for WHO. Here are some stories of our impact in 2021!

GROUPING 2

DIABETES RESPONSES AND TARGETS, ORAL HEALTH, ELIMINATING CERVICAL CANCER, AND OBESITY

Grouping 2, discussed on Wednesday and Thursday, focused on multiple NCDs and their risk factors:

• Recommendations to strengthen and monitor diabetes responses within national NCD programmes, including the creation of five voluntary targets. These voluntary targets set the aim that by 2030: 80% of people with diabetes are diagnosed; 80% of those diagnosed have good control of glycaemia, and of blood pressure; 60% of those people with diabetes of 40 years or older receive statins; and 100% of people with type 1 diabetes access affordable insulin treatment and blood glucose self-monitoring. 

• Presenting a draft global strategy on oral health, recognizing the global public health importance of major oral diseases and conditions. The strategy sets the vision of achieving universal health coverage for oral health for all individuals and communities by 2030, enabling them to enjoy the highest attainable state of oral health. 

• Progress in efforts to eliminate cervical cancer, building on efforts set out in resolution WHA73.2, achieving the '90-70-90' targets on vaccination, screening and treatment respectively, and on WHO's work to increase efforts to HPV vaccination. By meeting these targets, cervical cancer could be the first ever to be eliminated.

• Preventing and managing obesity across the lifecourse, noting the need to apply multisectoral and Health in All Policy approaches, and to achieve globally-established targets to halt the rise of obesity in children under 5, adolescents and adults by 2025 (against a 2010 baseline), end all forms of malnutrition by 2030 (against a 2015 baseline), and reach 3% or lower prevalence of overweight in children under five years of age by 2030.

All items were adopted unanimously.

This Sunday marks two years since marks two years since Dr Tedros declared the global outbreak of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus represented a public health emergency of international concern, under the International Health Regulations. Over that time, we have learnt so much about the need for health services to be resilient to protect those living with NCDs. Not only for today, but also for tomorrow.

GROUPING 3

ACTING ON NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS AND MITIGATING THE HEALTH IMPACTS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

In 2020, the World Health Assembly asked WHO to develop a 10-year intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders. The draft plan was presented to EB150. It aims to improve access to care and treatment for people living with neurological disorders, explores ways to prevent new cases, promote brain health and development across the life course, and support the recovery of people living with neurological conditions, while reducing disease, death and stigma.

Recognizing that the global disease burden attributed to consuming alcoholic beverages is unacceptably high, last year WHO was requested to develop an action plan for 2022–2030. This plan would effectively implement the global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol as a public health priority. Several Member States suggested that WHO explore the creation of a document that details expected principles of engagement of alcohol industry economic operators in public health policy-making.

Both of these activities were also unanimously adopted.

We've been providing short updates on NCD activities through this year's EB - this thread from Dr Bente Mikkelsen summarizes some key work at #EB150!

CERVICAL CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

While EB150 has taken up a lot of focus this week, it is not the only important issue of January. This month also represents Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.

Cervical cancer develops in a woman's cervix - the entrance to the uterus from the vagina. Almost all cervical cancer cases (99%) are linked to infection with HPV, an extremely common virus transmitted through sexual contact. Although most infections with HPV resolve spontaneously and cause no symptoms, persistent infection can cause cervical cancer in women.

To mark the month, WHO's Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO EMRO) has launched a campaign page to build momentum for action on cervical cancer.  On this Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, the messages are clear.

• Get informed. Find out the facts about cervical cancer and the human papilloma virus (HPV) that causes it. Help educate other women in your life too.
• Get screened. Cervical cancer screening typically starts at age 30 and is repeated periodically.
• Get vaccinated. The HPV vaccine is given in 2 doses that should begin when a girl is between 9 and 14 years old.

OUR NEW LOOK

As part of efforts to improve WHO communications, this edition of the NCD Newsflash comes from our new platform, Campaign Monitor! We appreciate your patience as we refine this new template, and you can share your feedback at the link below.