Editorial
Health is no longer just a personal concern—it’s a global priority. At the end of last year, world leaders adopted a historic global declaration on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health. The agreement, reached at the Eightieth United Nations General Assembly, aims to address these challenges through a fully integrated approach.
The new political declaration established three first-ever global “fast-track” outcome targets to be achieved by 2030:
- 150 million fewer tobacco users;
- 150 million more people with hypertension under control; and
- 150 million more people with access to mental health care.
To ensure countries can reach these goals, the declaration also sets ambitious, measurable process targets for national systems by 2030, including:
- at least 80% of countries with policy, legislative, regulatory and fiscal measures in place;
- at least 80% of primary health care facilities with access to affordable, WHO-recommended essential medicines and basic technologies for NCDs and mental health;
- at least 60% of countries implementing financial protection policies or measures that cover or limit the cost of essential NCD and mental health services;
- at least 80% of countries with operational, multisectoral national plans for NCDs and mental health; and
- at least 80% of countries with robust surveillance and monitoring systems for NCDs and mental health.
The adoption of these bold targets to control noncommunicable diseases and promote mental health is a testament to the commitment of Member States to protect the health of their people.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
“Together, we can change the trajectory of NCDs and mental health, and deliver health, well-being and opportunity for all,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Meanwhile, the European Commission had already launched the Healthier Together – EU non-communicable diseases initiative in December 2021 to support EU countries in identifying and implementing effective policies to reduce the burden of major NCDs and improve citizens’ health and well-being.
Covering the 2022–2027 period, the initiative focuses on five key strands—health determinants, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, and mental health and neurological disorders—while also addressing health inequalities, with cancer-related actions included under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.
EFPIA viewpoint
According to EFPIA, non-communicable diseases like heart disease, diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer’s, account for 88-90% of all deaths in Europe, and almost one in three people over fifty are living with two or more chronic conditions.
EFPIA accentuates that five major NCDs are estimated to cost EU countries €530 billion annually, which is more than 3% of the EU’s combined annual GDP. And this is not even accounting for the “invisible” burden of informal care, which for Alzheimer’s alone was estimated to over $200 billion for the European region in 2019.
NDCs place a heavy cost on European societies in terms of expensive hospital and long-term care, reduced labour force participation, and sickness and disability benefits.
NDCs place a heavy cost on European societies in terms of expensive hospital and long-term care, reduced labour force participation, and sickness and disability benefits.
EFPIA
This trend puts an upwards pressure on European health and social protection budgets that is a cause for concern in Finance Ministries all over Europe. According to the European Commission, public health expenditure in EU27 could grow to 7,7% of GDP in 2070 compared to 6,6% in 2024.
At the same time, population ageing is also decreasing the base for economic growth and public revenue – by 2050 there will be only 2 working age individuals for every elderly person, compared to 3 today. Many European countries try to mitigate the effects by raising the pension age, but this will of course only matter if people close to retirement are healthy enough to keep working one or a few years more.
Ill-health is a shackle on Europe’s economic growth that we cannot afford to ignore, warns EFPIA.
Without economic growth we cannot fund increased spending on security and defence, the green and digital transition or any other societal priority, and certainly not our welfare systems.
EFPIA suggests: how do we break out of this cycle? Here are three suggestions:
- Ministers responsible for health, social protection and finance should sit together and plan for the long-term, based on a multi-year financial perspective. This would help identify reforms and investments that will deliver both better health and economic returns, also taking into account technological change, introduction of new innovative products and services, and epidemiology. The EU’s new economic governance framework is facilitating this multi-year perspective of public budgeting, so let’s use it.
- Experiment with models for integrating budgets across silos. If budget holders have a joint responsibility for prevention, primary and secondary care and social- and elderly care services, they will take a holistic and long-term perspective.
- Experiment with innovative financing models for investing in health. In several countries, social impact bonds have enabled dedicated programs for prevention and disease management through attracting private capital, with returns tied to achieving health outcomes targets. With public budgets tied to annual cycles, private capital can help create the bridge between today and tomorrow.
Clinging to the status quo is not the right choice for Europe – that would be equivalent to managing a gradual decline. What we need is new and bold thinking, and the realisation that the health of Europeans is not just a matter for public health experts but of fundamental importance for our economic prosperity, fiscal sustainability and societal resilience, accentuates EFPIA.
Socioeconomic impact
According to NCD Alliance this problem is more than a health issue. NCDs are closely related to many urgent global challenges such as growing socio-economic disparities, the climate crisis or war. Action on NCDs must be a cornerstone of any integrated approach to sustainable development and achieving human and planetary health.
By 2050, cases of diabetes and cancer are expected to double, with other conditions—such as chronic kidney disease and dementia—increasing at an even faster pace.
NCD Alliance
NCD Alliance points out that 82% of premature deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries due to lack of access to affordable health care and health-enabling environments.
WHO notes that poverty is closely linked with NCDs. The rapid rise in NCDs is predicted to impede poverty reduction initiatives in low-income countries, particularly by increasing household costs associated with health care. Vulnerable and socially disadvantaged people get sicker and die sooner than people of higher socio-economic positions, especially because they may have limited access to health services. To reduce these inequities, governments must invest in health systems that respond to users’ expectations and needs.
23.04.2026.
