“Integration of all sectors to fight Non-Communicable Diseases” at the 2nd Global NCD Alliance Forum

The second Global NCD (Non-Communicable Diseases) Alliance Forum, happening at Jawaher Reception and Convention Center - Sharjah till December 11th, witnessed in its Stream 2, Breaking Down Silos and Building Synergies in the SDG Era. The five workshops under this stream aimed at advocating ideas to affect policy changes at the country level, strategies for building advocacy coalitions spanning different sectors.

The first workshop conducted on 10 December, titled Integrating Efforts for NCDs and Women’s and Children’s Health provided an overview of the burden of NCDs across the reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health continuum and discussed opportunities to develop and strengthen an integrated approach to promote the health and wellbeing of women and children. The session explored how civil society can identify key entry points to engage these communities in prevention and treatment and explored opportunities to promote greater youth involvement in the NCD response.

While commenting on the importance of hosting this workshop Ms. Masha DeVoe, Senior Associate of Policy and Advocacy, NCD Focal Point, Women Deliver, United States said, “we need to look at the status and structural barriers that women are exposed to. Unclean cooking systems and their exposure to it is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. But that’s the gender norm in a lot of developing countries. Even young female adults join their mothers in cooking in front of proper and unclean systems and this will obviously have an adverse health impact. She further said “even in low income countries women will have one antenatal visit and that visit to the local healthcare provider can be used to integrate with the NCDs. We will have to find ways to capitalize on this”

While commenting on the importance of Integration she added, “Children and young adults should be put first while trying to cull out systems to fight NCDs. Young people with NCDs are part of the discussion. Youth have a lot to contribute in terms of how to approach this problem and how solutions can be achieved. They can offer a lot to address this problem and bring solutions to the table. Youth should have a voice in policy making and have every right to participate in the matter.”

Other eminent panelists in this workshop included Dr. Kibachio Joseph Mwangi, Head of the Division of NCDs, Ministry of Health, Kenya, Dr. Mychelle Farmer, Governing Council, NCD Child, United States, Professor Mark Hanson, UK Chair of Working Group on Adolescent, Pre-conception and Maternal Nutrition, FIGO, and President, DOHaD Centre, University of Southampton, United Kingdom, Mr. Andrew Twineamatsiko, Youth advocate, Caring & Living As Neighbour (CLAN) and Uganda NCD Alliance, Uganda and Ms. Rikke Fabienke, Senior Project Manager, Novo Nordisk, Denmark who also talked about preventing toxic stress in new borns as second hand smoke exposure can deter their brain development. This affects their potential to grow and thrive in a healthy manner.

Running along-side the second workshop included Addressing NCDs as a Barrier to Poverty Reduction and Development   and emphasized on how non communicable diseases are both a cause and consequence of poverty – illness, death and disability. The panel also discussed about a universal health coverage and poverty reduction in low- and middle-income countries. They further discussed on exploring data on impact of Non-communicable Diseases and Injuries (NCDIs) related costs. This workshop saw the presence of speakers like Ms. Maia Olsen, Programme Manager, NCD Synergies, Partners in Health, United States, Dr. Gene Bukhman, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School, Senior Health and Policy Adviser, Partners In Health, Co-chair, Lancet NCDI Poverty Commission, United States, Dr. Rachel Nugent, Vice President, Global Noncommunicable Diseases, RTI International, United States, Mr. Wondu Bekele Woldemariam, Executive Director, Mathiwos Wondu – Ye Ethiopia Cancer Society, Consortium of Ethiopian NCD Associations, Ethiopia, Mr. Erneste Simpunga, Rheumatic Heart Disease advocate and member of Global Advisory Committee, Our Views, Our Voices initiative, Rwanda.

In the third workshop of the day, titled Using the Law to Safeguard Health and Reduce NCDs saw a discussion on how International, regional and domestic laws and legal frameworks powerfully influence all aspects of NCD prevention and control – exposure to risk factors, the availability and accessibility of health services and treatments and technologies. This panel included speakers like Mr. Jonathan Liberman,Director, McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer, Australia, Dr. Esperanza Cerón Villaquirán, Secretariat, Mesa Colombiana de Incidencia por las Enfermedades No Transmisibles, Colombia, Mr. Ralph Degollacion, Project coordinator, HealthJustice Philippines, Dr. Edgardo Palma,ALIANZA ENT-PERÚ, Peru who talked about litigation and public mobilization efforts for healthy food regulation to prevent non communicable diseases.

Human and Planetary Health: At the Intersection of NCDs, Urbanisation and Climate Change was the fourth workshop of the day that investigated the global political landscape and linkages between health and environmental development in air pollution, transport and food systems. The key speakers who spoke about sustainable urbanization included Dr. Jeni Miller, Executive Director, Global Climate and Health Alliance, United States, Professor Dean Schraufnagel, Executive Director, Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), United States, Dr. Nandita Murukutla, Vice President, Global Policy and Research, Policy, Advocacy and Communication, Vital Strategies, India, Dr. Joseph Mucumbitsi, Rwanda NCD Alliance, Rwanda.

The final workshop themed World Cancer Research Fund International, NCD Alliance aimed to strengthen civil society advocacy efforts towards governments to address links between food, nutrition, the environment and NCDs leveraging data, good practice, and innovative approaches to Ensuring Sustainable Healthy Diets for All within the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition. Commenting on this issue were Ms. Bryony Sinclair,Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager, World Cancer Research Fund International, United Kingdom, Ms. Paula Johns,Executive Director, ACT Health Promotion and Board Member, NCD Alliance, Brazil, Professor Corinna Hawkes, Director, Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London, United Kingdom, Dr. Sudhvir Singh, Director of Policy, EAT Foundation, Norway, Ms. Zuhura Amour,Manager, Zanzibar NCD Alliance, Zanzibar.

Collaborating with parliamentarians, putting people first, looking at malnutrition and obesity, adult prevention agenda have all contributed positively in tackling NCDs so far. In the past decade, countries have expanded their capacities to respond to the epidemic of non-communicable diseases. Real progress has been made, though it has been uneven and collaborated efforts can still go a long way in handling this epidemic.