2018 UN High-level Meeting on NCDs
2018 has been a landmark year for the global cancer and NCD community as, on 27 September, political leaders from around the world came together at the third United Nations High-level Meeting on NCDs to review progress and set out a route to reinvigorate action to achieve the global NCD targets for 2025 and 2030.
At the September meeting, HRH Princess Dina delivered a rousing speech calling on the assembled Heads of State to accelerate action on behalf of all civil society organisations. She emphasised that the global community has the information, tools and skills needed, but that action had been limited by political inertia, which was continuing to cost people their health and wellbeing.
Recognising that preparations for these meetings are as important as the documents they produce, UICC worked with the Can25 group to mobilise cancer advocates. A specific working group was established to share intelligence and connect advocacy taking place nationally to conversations being held in Geneva and New York. We collaborated with the NCD Alliance to establish common advocacy priorities and coordinate briefings for the Permanent Missions in New York and Geneva.
Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, the political declaration falls short of the ambitions set out by UICC and the NCD Alliance, but it does contain key language that supports cancer control, including a specific paragraph calling on countries to “promote access to affordability diagnostic, screening, treatment and care |as well as vaccines that lower the risk for cancer...�. UICC will be taking this challenge up in our work in 2019. Read an assessment of the 2018 Political Declaration on NCDs here.
2018 UICC Annual Report
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