Last week, Presidents and Prime Ministers gathered at UN Headquarters in New York for five high-level summits on climate, universal health coverage, the SDGs, financing for development, and sustainable development in small island developing states.

Discussions throughout the week focused on the need for international cooperation to address the shared challenges of mitigating climate change, achieving health for all, and how to finance the solutions we know deliver results. 

Ahead of the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (HLM on UHC), over 130 signatories joined NCDA in an Open Letter to government leaders, calling for immediate action to bridge the gaps between promises and progress on the 2030 Agenda commitments towards ensuring healthy lives for all and reducing the premature deaths from NCDs by one-third by 2030

The NCD Alliance team was on the ground covering the official proceedings and co-hosting several events related to the themes of the week. At the HLM on UHC, 43 of 84 speakers during the plenary session mentioned NCDs during their statements, and an additional six speakers mentioned taxes on unhealthy commodities or the main risk factors for NCDs. Many statements included support for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as a component of UHC, which was one of two contentious issues during the negotiations of the political declaration. 

 At the HLM on UHC, 43 of 84 speakers during the plenary session mentioned NCDs during their statements, and an additional six speakers mentioned taxes on unhealthy commodities or the main risk factors for NCDs.

On Wednesday, 25 September, the NCD Alliance, UNDP, WHO, and IISD convened a Planetary Health Dialogue, discussing the interlinkages and joint solutions for health, environment, and sustainable development. Together with our partners, NCD Alliance will be continuing the discussion on the links between health and environment and how, by working together, we can reduce death and disability due to NCDs. 

If you are interested to hear what your government said at any of the high-level events last week, recordings of all official sessions are available here.