Immediate EU action on non-communicable diseases could help save almost 2 million lives by 2025
The European Chronic Disease Alliance (ECDA), the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and the NCD Alliance publish a new joint paper “Towards an EU-Strategic Framework for the prevention of Non-communicable Diseases” concluding that a new EU-level strategic framework to prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is needed to address the chronic diseases epidemic.
With 70% of respondents to a recent EU Barometer survey wanting to see more EU action on health and with epidemic levels of NCDs undermining people’s well-being, healthcare systems, and Europe’s economic and social prosperity, preventing NCDs should be a main priority for the next European Commission.
The report provides a series of basic principles, priorities and actions, setting out a roadmap for EU policy-makers to make change happen.
Core to the future Strategic Framework are a number of tangible actions, including:
- Rolling out NCD prevention policies recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO)
- Designing EU financial instruments that support national investment in prevention
- Pursuing ‘EU flagship initiatives’ in areas that can deliver co-benefits for NCD prevention and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Identifying and rectifying EU barriers to the implementation of national NCD prevention strategies
- Establishing a pan-European system for data collection, policy evaluation and accountability
- Ensuring thorough inter-institutional coordination on health and well-being
For more information, please visit: www.alliancechronicdiseases.org
