NUTRITION

Non-communicable diseases. In 2018, WHO will hold, for the third time, a high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The meeting will be attended by delegates from the top levels of Government of each country on health matters and senior WHO officials. The precise date and place where this meeting will take place are not yet defined. However, a preparatory process for the meeting will be held, stretching until June of this year, during which the WHO representatives will hold meetings with government officials, the private sector and NGOs. The two previous high-level meetings on NCDs were held in 2011 and 2014, and outlined the public policies that each country implemented to combat these diseases.

The meeting is still in the preparatory phase. At the end of 2017, the General Directorate of the WHO presented a report to the United Nations’ General Assembly on the progress of member countries in the fight against NCDs. Although the presentation of this report was the first formal step in the preparation of the 2018 High Level meeting, the fact is that the problem of NCDs was addressed by PAHO in 2017 during a meeting that took place in October 2017 in Montevideo, Uruguay. A report on this meeting prepared by the Legislative Directory is available in the following link.

After the meeting in Montevideo, a document was drawn up (available in English and in Spanish), outlining the axes of public policy recommendations against NCDs that will serve as a basis for the debates at the Third High-Level Meeting. Some of the recommended lines of action which stand out are:

• Provide health systems with the capacity to respond more effectively to NCDs
• Increase funding of national programs against NCDs
• Involve actors from the private sector and NGOs in the fight against NCDs
• Strengthen the accountability of the private sector and other non-state sectors in the negative impact on health

The next step in the preparatory process of the third High Level meeting will be in February, when WHO reviews the progress report on public policies that each Member State has made so far to combat NCDs. In March, the negotiation modalities to be carried out during the meeting will be defined (to agree on the scope, dates, format and level of participation of the third High Level Meeting). In April, WHO will hold informal meetings with representatives of the Member States to discuss the financing of NCD programs in each country. In May, a report on the current situation of NCDs worldwide will be presented during the 71st General Assembly of the UN. Although the date to carry out the third meeting on NCDs has yet to be defined, but it is stipulated that it will take place after June.

In the middle of the preparatory process, between April and May, WHO will hold hearings with civil society organizations and the private sector. Regarding the role played by the private sector in the fight against NCDs, WHO has a very critical position. In its preliminary report, the WHO maintains that “interference by industry impedes the implementation of the best buys and other recommended interventions, including raising taxation on tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages”. At the same time, it affirms that “multinationals with vested interests routinely interfere with health policy-making, for instance by lobbying against implementation of best buys and other recommended interventions, working to discredit proven science and bringing legal challenges to oppose progress.”

Next steps

In February WHO will review the report on the progress of public policies that Member States carried out against NCDs. In March, negotiation modalities will be defined for the third High Level Meeting on NCDs. In April, meetings will be held with representatives of member states to discuss the financing of programs against NCDs. Between April and May, hearings will be held with NGOs and the private sector to discuss their role in combating NCDs. In May, a report on the current state of NCDs will be presented to the 71st General Assembly of the UN. The third High Level Meeting on NCDs does not have a definite date yet, but it will be after June.