Global week calls for action on NCDs

The Time to Lead is now! 

That’s the key message from this year’s 2024 Global Week for Action on NCDs (Non-communicable diseases). 

The aim of the week which runs from Oct 15 – 22, is to deliver this message to governments, donors, international agencies, and the private sector.

NCDs, also known as chronic diseases, tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors.

The main types of NCD are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.

NCDs have reached pandemic proportions globally, and according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 74 per cent of all deaths globally, and 89 per cent of all deaths in Aotearoa.

The annual global weeks for action seek to ensure NCD prevention and management get the attention and action they deserve, everywhere, for everyone.

Since 2010, NCDs have been rising on national and global health and development agendas. Political commitments include the landmark 2011 UN Political Declaration on NCD Prevention and Control, the 2025 global NCD targets, the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020, and the integration of NCDs into 2015 Sustainable Development Goals.

Yet, according to the NCD Alliance the necessary action and investment have been unacceptably slow to follow. Scaling up and accelerating action on NCDs must be seen as governments making good on their promises, a moral imperative rather than a choice.

'The Global Week for Action on NCDs aims to slow the increasing burden of NCDs, thanks to the contributions of people everywhere. Actions can be big or small - the power of the week comes through collaboration across countries and sectors towards a common goal: reducing preventable death and illness and increasing health and equity around the world.

“We have precious little time to get it right … It’s time to move from words to action on NCDs. Together we can spark the necessary change for NCDs. IT'S TIME TO LEAD.”

Learn about the many ways you can get involved in this year's campaign HERE.

READ MORE about the 2024 Global Week for Action on NCDs.