This is our third episode on the theme of leadership and the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs (UNHLM). It features the voices of youth working to address the noncommunicable disease (NCD) emergency. “It’s really important to talk about who has the power to make decisions,” said physician Apoorva Gomber, who acted as host. All the guests agreed that youth are already acting as leaders globally but that their work needs to be better incorporated into policy-making about NCDs. The definition of leadership should also be broadened, said Swarnima Bhattacharya, founder of Gytree, which focuses on NCDs and women in India. “There are people who are working through community radio, people who are raising awareness in education, there are doctors who are building communities also… obviously youth are at the forefront because they have mobility and energy.” Looking to the UNHLM, priorities should include 1. Stronger political commitments and finances, 2. Equitable access to prevention, screening and treatment for NCDs, especially for marginalized people, and 3. Addressing commercial determinants of health, including marketing of unhealthy products, said Queen Morkporkpor Doe, from Ghana.

'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

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The World Bank is co-hosting the Second global dialogue on sustainable financing for NCDs and mental health, 20-21 June 2024, in Washington DC. Ahead of the meeting we spoke with Dr Monique Vledder, Practice Manager of the Global Health, Nutrition and Population Unit at the Bank. She stressed the importance of World Bank President Ajay Banga declaring in April that the Bank intended to reach 1.5 billion people with healthcare programmes. Vledder is hoping the Dialogue helps to build consensus on policy recommendations and strategies that will feed into the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2025. “We’re just delighted that at the core of that is country leadership — there’s a very very large group of ministers of health and their senior staff joining the Dialogue to build a consensus and the recommendations for what’s next.”

'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

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In this episode of Voices of the health revolution we hear about two sources of leadership that will be key as the global NCD community works toward the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs. Not surprisingly, the three speakers all point to people living with NCDs as uniquely qualified to spearhead progress. “We are not just key stakeholders but we hold a very unique expertise… that no other expert has, because we know what it’s like to live with the condition,” says Lucía Feito Allonca.

Another source of leadership and fuel for the NCD movement is collaboration, notes Alejandro Daly, who is also deeply involved in the climate change and mental health movements. He predicts that health will become the North Star of global cooperation and multilateralism and within health, NCDs will be the focal point. Other bridges should be built with advocates working for healthy food and those trying to uncover health-harming industries like tobacco and alcohol, says episode host Ogweno Stephen.

'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

Find out more: https://actonncds.org/

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Prevention is better than cure, and this couldn’t be truer when it comes to noncommunicable diseases. In this podcast, Dr Monika Arora, President of NCD Alliance and Executive Director of HRIDAY shares the facts about NCD prevention and how governments can show true leadership in protecting the health of their populations by implementing tried-and-true policies and programmes. She also shines a spotlight on health harming industries, like junk food, tobacco and fossil fuels, and their interference in health policy making in countries around the world. As we approach the 4th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health in 2025, Monika shares one key message with decision makers everywhere: It’s time to take the lead on NCDs.

This podcast comes with a bonus: our host is Snehal Nandagawli, Chapter Lead at Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation & Global Diabetes Advocate, who adds her poignant perspectives to the conversation!

'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We often hear that mental health is neglected in part because of the stubborn stigma associated with living with a mental health condition in many — if not most — parts of the world. In an attempt to spotlight this neglected topic, in this episode we speak with two advocates for mental health, one based in Africa the other in South-east Asia. Charity Muturi and Yves Zuniga discuss if mental health indicators worldwide are improving. They also describe their advocacy plans for 2024 and beyond to ensure more focus, and resources, are invested in mental health globally.

'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

Discover more about the Global Week for Action on NCDs: actonncds.org
#ActOnNCDs

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The number of people displaced by natural disasters, conflict and other factors continues to grow. In 2023, 299 million people needed humanitarian assistance and protection, (10% more than at the end of 2022, according to the Global Humanitarian Overview 2024). Many of them are living with noncommunicable diseases, or NCDs, but until recently their specific needs were virtually ignored in planning for disaster relief and recovery. That is slowly changing.

From 27 to 29 February, UN Member States will meet at the Global high-level technical meeting on noncommunicable diseases in humanitarian settings. Organised by the World Health Organization and the UN Refugee Agency, the closed meeting in Copenhagen will assemble NCD, emergency, refugee, and health systems experts, along with UN agencies, academic bodies and non-state actors, all dedicated to strengthening the integration of NCDs in humanitarian responses.

Ahead of the meeting, NCD Alliance published the briefing paper, Neglected and in crisis: NCDs as a priority in humanitarian settings, which contains many recommendations on improving how NCDs can be better included in humanitarian responses. Today, we’re speaking with two people who will be closely watching the results of that meeting. Dr Catherine Karekezi is the executive director of the NCD Alliance Kenya, and Megan Sheridan is the Programme Manager of the Global Oncology Network of the US-based organisation Direct Relief.

'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

Discover more about the Global Week for Action on NCDs: actonncds.org

#ActOnNCDs

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Small island developing states (SIDS) are being battered by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). In response, a series of events were organised in recent years to examine SIDS’ current situation and needs. The latest of these was the SIDS Ministerial Conference, held in Barbados in June. Strategic guidance for the Conference was provided by a policy expert group co-chaired by Sir George Alleyne and Sir Collin Tukuitonga. In our new episode we speak to the co-chairs about the Ministerial Conference and the events that pre-dated it as well as about the Bridgetown Declaration generated by the Ministerial Conference, and what it will take to achieve its calls to action. While recognising that making progress on NCDs prevention and care will require constant, long-term effort, both men are optimistic and already see signs of progress.

Find out more about the SIDS Ministerial Conference: https://ncdalliance.org/news-events/news/bridgetown-declaration-brings-high-hopes-for-healthier-sids

'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

Discover more about the Global Week for Action on NCDs: actonncds.org

#ActOnNCDs

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Global Week for Action on NCDs is a major event on the annual calendar of the NCD community worldwide. In 2023 it takes place from 14 to 21 September. This year’s theme is Bridging the care gap, and in this episode of Voices of the Health Revolution, Grace Dubois from NCD Alliance explains why this year’s event is all about care. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is key to the approach: the UN High-level Meeting on UHC takes place on 21 September, and for the NCD community it as an opportunity to build on progress to date and to advance UHC policy and implementation ahead of the target date of 2030.

That means the Global Week is ideally situated to call on governments to accelerate action on NCD prevention and care policies globally across the three UHC dimensions: financial, service, and population coverage. Fair and effective solutions will support every person, every family and every community affected by NCDs as well as their costs for care and treatment.

'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

Find out more at actonncds.org 
#ActOnNCDs

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Since we recorded this episode in June 2023, Bayalpata Hospital management has learned that its funding for the current fiscal year, which started in July, is in doubt. Management signed a five-year agreement with the provincial government in 2022 but now officials say that there is no legal mechanism to transfer money to the hospital. A committee has been set up to look into this and a report is expected in early August. Meanwhile, the hospital is delaying signing staff contracts.

Bayalpata Hospital has been working to provide universal health coverage — care that is accessible and affordable to everyone — since it started running as a non-profit project in Nepal’s Far West region 15 years ago. COVID-19 disrupted the initiative, for example by cutting patient numbers by more than half, to below 50,000 per year. A couple of years earlier Nepal’s transition to a federal governance system meant that the hospital was suddenly working most closely with a provincial government not the Ministry of Health in Kathmandu. Despite these disruptions, Bayalpata is developing as an alternative healthcare model, one that provides free healthcare to people in the most disadvantaged part of the country while developing innovative service delivery tools, funding sources and collaborations.

'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

Find out more at actonncds.org
#ActOnNCDs

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In recent decades growing attention has been paid to how the social and environmental conditions in which we live— such as air quality (environmental) and income (social) — affect our health. These are known as social and environmental determinants of health. Now a spotlight has been turned on commercial determinants of health, thanks to a new series in The Lancet. Today we’re chatting with three contributors to that series to learn more about commercial determinants: how the products made by commercial actors, and the processes they use in making them, affect people’s health, and how we might start to reduce those impacts. Thanks as always to our guests:
· Sharon Friel - ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of Health Equity, Australian National University
· Anna Gilmore - Professor of Public Health, Department for Health, University of Bath
· Jenn Lacy-Nichols - Research Fellow, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, University of Melbourne.

'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

Find out more at actonncds.org 
#ActOnNCDs

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.