Noncommunicable Diseases, Rehabilitation and Disability

Our team works to reduce the avoidable burden of morbidity, mortality and disability due to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which remain as one of the greatest, under-funded public health challenges of this century.

The Political Declaration of the Third High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of NCDs broadens the scope of action from the 4 major NCDs and 4 main risk factors (the “4 x 4 NCD agenda”) to include mental health conditions and air pollution (“the 5 x 5 NCD agenda”).

The "Internal horizontal network for collective action to help countries accelerate structural transformations for SDG target 3.4" (WHO NCD/WIN) reinforces WHO’s commitment to working in a cross-cutting manner with 3 WHO divisions, 7 departments, 6 regional offices and 150 country offices to mobilize and monitor action for the prevention, screening, early diagnosis, and appropriate treatment of NCDs.

Global goals: Where we stand today

Over the past 20 years, NCDs have changed the world. They have become the leading cause of death in most countries, resulting in 200 million premature deaths among women and men aged between 30 and 70, the majority living in low- and middle-income countries. During the next 10 years, another 150 million people will die from NCDs between the ages of 30 and 70. Most of these deaths can be avoided or delayed.

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.4 is to reduce premature mortality from NCDs by a third by 2030 relative to 2015 levels. Only a handful of countries are on track to meet this target.

The SDG target 3.5 is to strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including the harmful use of alcohol. Since 2010 little progress was made with reducing the harmful use of alcohol, and development and implementation of effective alcohol control measures has been uneven between countries.

The SDG target 3.8 is to achieve universal health coverage. High-, middle- and low-income country groups have demonstrated almost no progress since 2000 in expanding UHC service capacity and access for the prevention, screening, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of NCDs.

The SDG target 3.a is on strengthening implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), The prevalence of current tobacco use among persons aged 15 years and older has declined globally since 2015, from 24.9% in 2015 to 23.6% in 2018. However, only 32 Member States are currently on track to achieve the WHO NCD voluntary target of a relative reduction in tobacco use prevalence of 30% between 2010 and 2025.

The SDG target 11.6 is on improving air quality. In 2016, 9 out of 10 people breathed air that did not meet the WHO air quality guidelines and more than half of the world’s population was exposed to air pollution levels at least 2.5 times above the safety standard set by WHO.

Global trends: Momentum of change has dwindled since 2010

In 2020, 15 million people worldwide will die of NCDs between the ages of 30 and 70, defined as "premature" death. The probability (risk) of premature death from any 1 of the 4 main NCDs decreased by 18% globally between 2000 and 2016. The most rapid decline is seen for chronic respiratory diseases (40% lower), followed by cardiovascular diseases and cancer (both 19% lower). Diabetes, however, is showing a 5% increase in premature mortality during the same period .

Despite the rapid progress made between 2000–2010 in reducing the risk of premature death from any 1 of the 4 main NCDs, the momentum of change has dwindled during 2010–2016, with annual reductions in premature mortality rates slowing for the main NCDs. In high-income countries, the premature mortality rate due to diabetes decreased from 2000 to 2010, but then increased in 2010–2016. In low- and middle-income countries, the premature mortality rate due to diabetes increased across both periods.

The NCD Department

The NCD Department has 5 strategic functions:

Improving the screening, early detection and appropriate treatment of NCDs, such as creating best-practice tools for clinical care and improving access to inexpensive drugs that prevent heart attacks and strokes.
Integrating service delivery, by boosting the profile of effective NCD interventions within existing health systems.
Sensory functions, disability and rehabilitation, supporting the billions of people globally who live with a disability or an NCD.
Surveillance, monitoring and reporting, providing vital data on the global picture on the prevention and control of NCDs and disability.
Global governance, reporting progress on an annual basis to the World Health Assembly, reporting progress in 2024 to the United Nations General Assembly, and preparing the preparatory process leading to the Fourth High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of NCDs in 2025.

Our work contributes to 3 overarching strategic ambitions:

Cover an additional 1 billion people with quality essential health services to diagnose, screen and treat NCDs by 2025.
Close the data gap on NCDs and related disabilities.
Promote partnerships that strengthen collaboration with governments, civil society and the private sector to diagnose, screen and treat NCDs.

These ambitions have been designed to achieve progress against WHO’s "Triple Billion" targets to be reached by 2023, and the fourth UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2025. To achieve them, the Department works on both a series of "signature solutions", and specific programmatic activities that combine supporting countries with global goods and WHO leadership.

To make progress across these 3 strategic priorities, the NCD Department is building 12 "Signature Solutions", to make global progress on NCDs. These are:

A global hearts initiative, to support governments in strengthening the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
A global initiative to eliminate cervical cancer, which kills more than 300 000 women every year.
A global initiative on childhood cancer, aiming to improve survival for all children with cancer to at least 60% by 2030.
A global compact for diabetes with a special focus on increasing access to insulin, with more than half a billion people predicted to be living with the condition by 2030.
A project to integrate NCDs in African, Caribbean and Pacific State health systems, supporting all 78 countries to progress towards universal health coverage.
A breast health global initiative to develop evidence-based, economically feasible and culturally appropriate intervention guidelines.
A global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease to improve the prevention and treatment of the disease.
A global initiative to end childhood caries, which currently affect the primary teeth of more than 530 million children.
An NCD gateway, providing a one-stop-shop for data and strategic information on SDG 3.4, consistent across global and regional levels.
An action guide on rehabilitation in health systems, made particularly important with approximately two thirds of rehabilitation services globally disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
An effective coverage initiative for sensory functions of hearing and sight, of which many cases can be prevented and treated effectively.
A UN disability strategy, to better support the more than 1 billion people globally who live with a disability.

Our planner of key strategic deliverables is available here.