The UNIATF conducted a joint mission to Uzbekistan on 27 November – 1 December 2017 to develop an investment case for the government to scale up NCDs prevention and control. The mission team included the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Health Organisation (WHO) from Headquarters, European Regional and Country Offices.
“Tackling NCDs is integral to achieving Uzbekistan’s national Action Strategy and development roadmap, which is fully aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Mr Akmalhon Ortikov, Deputy Minister of Economy of Uzbekistan.
Prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases as a development priority
Uzbekistan, through close collaboration between the ministries of economy and health, has developed health-related targets within the national strategy and development roadmap, including addressing the four major NCD risk factors – tobacco use, unhealthy diets, harmful use of alcohol and physical inactivity.
“Without a healthy nation, we will not achieve a one-third increase in the economic growth rate by 2030,” said Mr Ortikov, in reference to his country’s economic target outlined in the roadmap.
Uzbekistan regards NCDs prevention and control as a development priority, with the country’s President initiating reforms on improving quality of and access to health services, said Mr Bakhodir Yusupaliev, First Deputy Minister of Health of Uzbekistan.
“To act decisively we must first analyse the needs and benefits of investing in measures to tackle chronic diseases in the country,” said Mr Yusupaliev. “We see a need to strengthen our multisectoral approach to NCD prevention and control.”
Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Health, with support from WHO and a World Bank loan, has piloted a successful “Healthy lifestyles” project in the Fergana and Kashkadarya regions, and plans are underway to expand it across the country.
NCD investment case
“The NCD investment case will serve a powerful tool to scale up multisectoral NCD response at national level,” said Mr Yusupaliev.
A NCD investment case is a quantitative analysis outlining how cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory diseases and cancers hold back a national economy by escalating budget costs and lost productive capacities from people unable to work, or working less effectively.
The investment case provides evidence on how governments can avoid these losses by implementing a set of proven cost-effective policies between now and 2030. Uzbekistan’s investment case is being developed under the UNDP-WHO Joint Global Programme on NCD Governance, with the financial support of the Government of the Russian Federation. It will detail how premature death, illness and disability from NCDs impacts Uzbekistan’s socio-economic development, including direct costs to the national budget and indirect (hidden) costs from lost productivity. It is also expected to estimate the return on investment in certain cost-effective NCD measures, and the expected impact from implementing these measures on the country’s health and wealth.
The NCDs burden in Uzbekistan, as in many other countries, is enormous. Up to 80% of deaths are due to NCDs, and 1 in 3 Uzbeks die prematurely (before the age of 70) from a NCD. The prevalence of NCD risk factors in Uzbekistan is high - more than 30% of men and women have high blood pressure, with levels of salt consumption amongst the highest in WHO European Region (up to 15 grams per capita per day, three times higher than WHO recommendation of 5 grams a day).
Joint action on the NCD-related sustainable development goals (SDGs)
UNIATF mission members met with ministries of health, finance, economy, labour, and education, the United National Country Team and a number of development partners. The mission also discussed the NCD situation with the National Statistical Committee, Division of Medical Technologies of Scientific research institute of Public health and healthcare, and also visited National Centre of Cardiology.
“NCD prevention and control is reflected in the Roadmap on strengthening UN- Uzbekistan cooperation, as well as the United Nations Development Assistance Framework,” said Ms Helena Fraser, UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan. “As a UN family we are exploring how we can support strengthened cross-government action on NCDs and sustainable development. One option is that Government establishes a joint NCD task force under the auspices of the UNDAF steering committee to scale up joint action on the NCD-related SDGs.”
Russian Ambassador Mr Vladimir Tyurdenev highlighted the importance of developing practical tools to accelerate healthy policies at national and global levels.
“The Government of the Russian Federation support the UNDP-WHO joint Global Programme to Activate National Responses to NCDs because we believe in the power of government coming together to address this issue,” said Mr Tyurdenev. “In particular we asked the UN to quantify the social and economic costs of NCDs and define the return on investment here in Uzbekistan to help the Government to define optimal solutions for NCDs.”