Country experiences in integrated policy development for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (2015)

2015, vi + 30 pages
ISBN 978 92 890 5105 7
This publication is only available online.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors pose a serious and urgent threat to health, economic and social development, and environmental sustainability. NCDs – mainly cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes – are the leading cause of death both globally and in the WHO European Region. They are largely preventable and share four behavioural risk factors: tobacco and alcohol use, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. The health sector alone cannot deal with the challenges of NCDs. Developing national integrated strategies for their prevention and control requires a new kind of health policy. 

This publication is intended as a source of inspiration for policy-makers tasked with the elaboration or revision of national strategies for and action plans on NCDs. It compiles the experiences of and lessons emerging from selected countries in the WHO European Region in elaborating national integrated NCD plans. It summarizes the recent key global and European mandates to take a comprehensive, multisectoral approach to national NCD policy development, and points to WHO guidelines, tools and publications that offer support to this process.