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Commentary
Report of the WHO independent high-level commission on NCDs: where is the focus on addressing inequalities?
  1. Sigiriya Aebischer Perone1,2,
  2. Frédérique Jacquerioz Bausch2,
  3. Philippa Boulle3,
  4. François Chappuis2,
  5. J Jaime Miranda4,
  6. David Beran2,5
  1. 1International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, Switzerland
  2. 2Division of Tropical and Humanitarian Medicine, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
  3. 3Médecins Sans Frontières, Geneva, Switzerland
  4. 4CRONICAS Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
  5. 5Faculty of Medicine, UNIGE, Geneva, Switzerland
  1. Correspondence to Dr Sigiriya Aebischer Perone; Sigiriya.AebischerPerone{at}hcuge.ch

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002820

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    Summary box

    • The current WHO independent high-level commission on non-communicable diseases’ report lacks clear focus on addressing the issues of inequalities in non-communicable diseases.

    • Much stronger recommendations are needed to ensure appropriate investment in strengthening and improving the quality of health systems, especially at primary healthcare.

    • Governments, the private sector and other actors all need to be involved in finding sustainable solutions to ensure access to medicines and technologies for non-communicable diseases.

    • Non-communicable diseases in humanitarian emergencies need to be included in any global guidance on the issue.

    • In all contexts allocation of resources needs to optimise access for long-term care and treatment, paired with population-wide prevention efforts in order to guarantee universal health coverage.

    On 10 December 2019, the WHO launched the ‘It’s time to walk the talk: WHO independent high-level commission on non-communicable diseases’ report.1 This was the second report of the commission convened in 2017 by the director general of the WHO to address the global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in innovative ways. The current report highlights that given the current measures in place the 2030 sustainable development goal (SDG) target 3.4 of reducing by ‘one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being’ will not be met.2 Whereas the first report proposed recommendations for heads of state, governments, civil society and the private sector, the proposals put forward in this report were targeted at the WHO. The eight recommendations include: encouraging heads of state and governments to take the lead in the NCD response; supporting countries to ensure healthy lifestyles for their populations; proposing investments in mental health; including prevention in …

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