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NCDs and COVID-19

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This page shares various resources, tools and information to support our network navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus in 2019. Evidence from the World Health Organization (WHO), science, healthcare professionals, and governments stay-at-home guidelines during COVID-19 pandemic illustrate many intersections between COVID-19 and NCDs
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As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, NCD Alliance is committed in raising the voices and the righths of people living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), older people and marginalised groups. 

People who are over 60 years of age and people living with noncommunicable diseases (PLWNCDs) and conditions including hypertension and obesity, have a substantially higher risk of becoming severly ill or dying from the virus. COVID-19 is also causing significant "disruption of services for the prevention and treatment of NCDs" in almost all countries, likely to lead to a "long-term upsurge in deaths from NCDs" according to the World Health Organization (WHO)'s rapid assessment of service delivery for NCDs during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As a global alliance, the NCD Alliance (NCDA) we are doing everything within our capacity to raise our voices for the rights of people living with NCDs, older people and marginalised groups, and to share information, guidance and good practice to protect each other; in full solidarity and alignment with WHO, and in collaboration with our members, supporters and 65 national and regional NCD alliances.

NCDA Resources relating to COVID-19

 

At the 2022 World Health Assembly in Geneva, the WHO and Bloomberg Philanthropies convened the event "Lessons Learned from NCDs and COVID-19".

The panel, featured Dr Kelly Henning, Head of Public Health Programming, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Dr John-Arne Røttingen, Ambassador for Global Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway, and Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 Technical Lead WHO. They highlighted that there has never been a better – or more important – time to invest in NCD prevention and control and implement the policies that work.

Long before the pandemic, NCDs were already responsible for nearly three-quarters of global deaths, and they continue to be leading threats to health in all countries. They have also contributed substantially to deaths and serious illness from COVID-19, yet in some cases have been deprioritized as health issues.