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30 April 2018

Feeding back from the global dialogue on Partnerships for Sustainable Financing of NCDs

Reflecting back on key themes and new initiatives from the recent Global Dialogue on partnerships for the sustainable finance of NCDs in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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The WHO Global Dialogue on Partnerships for Sustainable Financing for NCD Prevention and Control was held from 9th to 11th April in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Dialogue brought together 300 participants from NCD civil society, academia, private sector, UN agencies and ministries of health and finance to discuss existing and potential sources of finance and development cooperation to close the resource gap in the NCD response.

Over the course of two and a half days the programme explored the current state of financing for NCD prevention and control, cost-effective interventions to close the resource gap, opportunities for building the investment case for NCDs, the role of partnerships and the different actors which can be involved.

Some of the key themes coming out of the discussions were:

  • The need to tackle NCDs as a development priority, as without action on financing they NCDs are set to exacerbate existing inequalities as well as cause significant premature mortality
  • Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly 3.4 and 3.8, needs a partnership approach. While health is the responsibility of Governments, domestic revenue and development aid is not sufficient to meet the investments required by 2025 or 2030. As such, new partnerships need to include the private sector and civil society, with the latter playing an important role in monitoring partnerships and holding partners accountable
  • The importance of differentiating the private sector to identify where there are shared goals, compared to those partnerships with are antithetical to the achievement of the SDGs
  • The importance of robust investments cases for NCDs, and the ability to frame and communities these in language which engages Ministries of Finance and other potential investors.
  • The urgent need for better data, both on financial flows and on returns on investments where countries are starting to implement the ‘best buys’

Throughout the conference speakers highlighted new and innovative approaches to tackling NCDs, including how these responses could be financed. UICC’s CEO, Cary Adams, highlighted the work of C/Can 2025, while other speakers flagged the launch of Defeat NCDs, a new partnership working on financing and procurement for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

One of the highlights of the conference was the launch of the Lancet Taskforce on NCDs and Economics which focuses on the economic cases for investing in NCDs as an important step to achieving the SDGs. You can read the articles from the Taskforce for free at the link above.

Speaking in the final plenary HRH Princess Dina Mired, UICC President-Elect, called the room to action by emphasising the importance of putting into practice what had been discussed at the meeting. Reflecting on the progress since 2011, Princess Dina highlighted some of the major advances seen, such as the increase in the number of national cancer control plans, but that there is a clear need for greater financing to move the ball for patients and that this, will of course, require new partners and new ways of working.

Last update

Friday 07 June 2019

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