The European Chronic Disease Alliance (ECDA) has launched a manifesto calling for increased European Union (EU) investment in chronic disease prevention and management in the agenda of the next European Commission, 2019-2024.
 
The manifesto was launched in cooperation with several members of the European Parliament in the context of the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and anticipated political changes in the European Commission in 2019.

NCD resources & targets needed

The manifesto calls on the Commission to recognise health as an objective in its own right in its next strategy, with specific targets on chronic diseases (also known as noncommunicable diseases, NCDs). It also calls on the Commission to allocate the resources needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which all Member States and the EU have committed to reach by 2030.

The manifesto outlines four priority actions to deliver on the SDGs in the EU and to ensure robust, effective and innovative EU leadership in health:

• A structured EU framework on chronic diseases
• A fuller focus on health and tackling NCDs within the European Union ‘Sustainable Europe’ Strategy
• Better targeting of funding and investment by the EU in respect to chronic diseases
• A European Chronic Disease Awareness Day. 

Support and share

The ECDA invites interested organisations to support and disseminate the manifesto to send a strong message that the health of Europeans deserves the EU’s attention.

See the manifesto and accompanying background document “Good health is a sine qua non for the EU”.

See highlights of the launch event, organised in the European Parliament in Brussels with insight and discussions with officials from the Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Health Scotland and many health, environment, and food stakeholders.
 
For more information, contact the ECDA Secretariat.