NCDs & COVID-19: Learning lessons, building back better for the future

Emergency preparedness - today and in the future - depends on strong health systems, a resilient, qualified, well-resourced health workforce, and healthy populations. COVID-19 and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) take lives indiscriminately, reinforcing one another and disproportionately impacting the poorest communities around the world and the most vulnerable people in every country. The fallout risks exacerbating inequalities.

In his address to the 73rd World Health Assembly on 18 May 2020, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “COVID-19 is not just a global health emergency, it is a vivid demonstration of the fact that there is no health security without resilient health systems, or without addressing the social, economic, commercial and environmental determinants of health.”

This virtual high-level event will convene global thought leaders to:

• Explore the collision of NCDs and COVID-19 to demonstrate the need to prioritise NCDs in policy responses to health emergencies and humanitarian responses;
• Position investment in NCD prevention and treatment as an essential foundation for human security and preparedness for health emergencies;
• Inform ‘build back better’ agenda for resilience, recovery and rebuilding, including the opportunity of Universal Health Coverage and health systems strengthening to break down silos across global health, at global and national levels and catalysing a holistic approach to health and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This event is hosted by the NCD Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.