United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NCDs

The United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (UNIATF) was established by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2013 in order to provide scaled up action across the UN system to support governments, in particular in low- and middle-income countries, to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory disease. Following the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, UNIATF’s scope of work was expanded in 2016 to include “NCD related SDGs” - i.e. mental health, violence and injuries, nutrition, and environmental issues that impact on NCDs. The UNIATF works to support countries through a biennial work plan, the key elements of which are joint programming missions and follow up technical assistance, global joint programmes, and thematic working groups. The World Health Organization acts as a Secretariat and lead for the Task Force.[1]

Establishment

The United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (UNIATF) was established in 2013 by the UN Secretary General in response to the 2011 Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of NCDs. Overseen by the World Health Organization, the Task Force’s mandate is to support the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases 2013–2020, as well as the NCD-related targets within Sustainable Development Goals. The WHO Director-General provides a report on the work of the Task Force through the UN Secretary General once a year to ECOSOC.[1]

At the end of 2016, the UNIATF had 38 members including: ASDB, AfDB, ERBD, FAO, GFATM, IADB, IAEA, IARC, ICRC, IDLO, ILO, INCB, IOM, IOC, ITU, OIC, OSDP, UNAIDS, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCO, UNEP, UNESCAP, UNFPA, UN HABITAT, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNODC, UNOSSC, UNRWA, UNSCN, UNU, UNWomen, WHO, WHO FCTC, WIPO, WFP, World Bank, and WTO.

The Task Force reports once a year to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).[1]

Objectives

The overall objective of the Task Force is to support the implementation of the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases 2013–2020[2] and the Sustainable Development Goals. UNIATF promotes a multisectoral, whole-of-government, and whole-of-society approach to the prevention and control of NCDs. The six objectives of the Task Force are as follows:[1]

  1. to raise the priority level of prevention and control of NCDs on the national and global agenda, enhancing international cooperation through advocacy efforts;
  2. to strengthen national capacities and leadership to prevent and control NCDs at the national level;
  3. to reduce modifiable risk factors for NCDs through the establishment of Working Thematic Groups, ensuring tobacco control is prioritized;
  4. to provide accurate information to strengthen health systems and ensure proper allocation of resources for joint programmes;
  5. to promote high-quality research and development related to NCDs; and
  6. to monitor the trends and determinants of NCDs and to evaluate progress in their prevention and control.

Action

Country support

The Task Force visits countries to meet with national government ministries, including health, finance, agriculture, consumer affairs, sports, planning, UN Country Teams, and non-state actors to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for further development of these partner countries in relation to the prevention and control of NCDs. It provides recommendations and follow-up support to reduce the burden of NCDs in the countries it visits. These joint programming missions provide the opportunity for the UN System, principally through the UN Country Team, to engage with a range of government ministries to support them in adopting approaches to NCD policy development that involve all government departments, ensuring that NCD issues receive an appropriate, whole-of-government multisectoral response. Missions also engage with other development partners, such as NGOs, private sector entities, philanthropic foundations, and academic institutions, thereby helping governments to promote a whole-of-society response to NCDs.[1]

From 2013–2017, the Task Force has completed 19 country missions -

Missions are documented by mission reports.[3]

Global joint programmes

UNDP/WHO Joint Programme to catalyse multisectoral action on NCDs

These are developed in line with United Nations development group guidance and provide a mechanism for raising funds for the work of the task force at country level. UNDP/WHO Joint Programme to catalyse multisectoral action on NCDs This Joint Programme supports UN Country Teams in their efforts to provide technical assistance to governments as they seek to develop and implement national NCD responses that contribute to the NCD-related targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Joint Programme strengthens whole-of-government and whole-of-society responses to NCDs by the following:[4]

  1. National investment cases for action on NCDs;
  2. Standardized mechanisms for stakeholders to collaborate on NCD prevention and control;
  3. Municipal initiatives to address community specific NCD challenges;
  4. Cross-cutting approaches to deliver mutual gains for NCDs and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and
  5. Multisectoral actions to reduce key NCD risk factors and prevent disease onset.

ITU-WHO Mobile Health for NCDs Initiative

The International Telecommunications Union and the World Health Organization are developing programs that use mobile technologies to improve the prevention and treatment of NCDs. This initiative harnesses the best available mobile technology, making mHealth accessible to all countries as a powerful anti-NCD measure.[5]

Joint Global Programme on Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control

This is a five-year Joint Global Programme on Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control, established in 2016 to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health concern across the world, bringing together the strengths of seven UN agencies to protect and promote the health of women and girls.[6]

Thematic working groups

These groups provide platforms for collaboration between different UN agencies. These include:[1]

  • harmful use of alcohol
  • nutrition
  • surveillance for NCDs
  • road safety
  • mental health
  • NCDs and the environment
  • NCDs in humanitarian settings
  • NCDs in Emergencies[7]

Key Successes

In 2016, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) reviewed a report on the work of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on NCDs and adopted a resolution broadening the scope of the UNIATF’s work to include NCD-related targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.[8]

Mr Dmitry Kostennikov, Deputy Minister of Healthcare of the Russian Federation highlighted the effectiveness of the Task Force and announced plans to convene a round table of countries “Friends of the Task Force” on 22 September 2016 at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Mr Kostennikov also highlighted the 2016 UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolution that expanded the scope of work of the Task Force on NCDs to reflect all NCD-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals in their work in countries.[9]

Some of the key successes following the country missions conducted by the Task Force and from the recommendations made by the Task Force[10] include:

  • Barbados adopted a sugar-sweetened beverage tax in 2015.[11][12]
  • Belarus established an Inter-sectoral Coordination Council on NCDs, to oversee implementation of the State program for NCD control and is chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister.[13]
  • India has had great success with the mHealth global joint programme, with over 2 million users enrolled and results showing over 7% of the program users did not use tobacco for at least 6 months in 2017.[14]
  • Kyrgyzstan included NCD-related targets into their national SDG adaptation agenda.[15]
  • Mozambique received encouragement and political momentum to ratify the WHO FCTC in 2016.[16][17]
  • Oman began working on the removal of subsidies for unhealthy foods and the implementation of a 50% tax on sugar-sweetened drinks and a 100% tax on energy drinks. Trans fats regulations were also adopted by the government.[18][19]
  • Sri Lanka introduced a traffic light labelling system in 2016 for high sugar products. They also implemented a maximum price policy in order to reduce the out of pocket cost on 48 essential medicines, including all essential medicines for NCDs.[20][21][22]
  • Zambia formed a government-wide multi-sectoral committee in 2017, charged with the implementation of the WHO-FCTC in order to mainstream tobacco control policies across government.[23]

Selected documents

How NCDs are reflected in governing body policies, strategies and plans

The United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (Task Force) looks to increase awareness on NCDs and advocates for ever greater attention and mobilization of resources to combat NCDs. As part of this Members are encouraged to raise the importance of NCDs as a development issue, especially now that NCDs are part of the SDGs, with their governing bodies.[24]

Integrating NCDs into the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAFs)

The audience for this Guidance Note are governments and UN Country Teams. The purpose of this publication is to provide guidance on how to integrate NCDs into the UNDAF.1 The guidance is in line with the "WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020" and other relevant global, regional and national mandates and frameworks.[25]

Integrating NCDs into the UNDAFS: Global Baseline and global target which the world health organization will use as a measure for implementing its NCD programme

The purpose of this memo is to update members of the United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NCDs, on WHO and UNDP’s global baseline for the number of countries that have integrated work on NCDs into their UNDAFs, and the global target for 2017 from a baseline of 1 January 2016.[25]

Action for non-health sectors on NCDs

These seven briefs provide decision makers across government with information about how noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) affect their sector, and the steps they can take to respond to the challenge of NCDs. They are on the following topics: Communications, education, Heads of State and Government, finance and tax, labour, Local Governments, and trade and industry.[26]

NCDs in Emergencies

The range of threats to public health faced by countries worldwide is broad and highly diverse. Emergencies can lead to an acute exacerbation or a life-threatening deterioration in the health of people with NCDs. Therefore, it is important to inform all stakeholders about the importance of including NCDs in the preparedness and response.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "NCDs | UN Interagency Task Force on NCDs (UNIATF)". Who.int. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  2. ↑ GLOBAL ACTION PLAN FOR THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES 2013-2020 (PDF). WHO. 2013. ISBN 978 92 4 150623 6.
  3. ↑ "NCDs | Joint Programming Missions". Who.int. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  4. ↑ "NCD2030" (PDF). Who.int. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  5. ↑ "Be He@Lthy, Be Mobile". Itu.int. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  6. ↑ "UN Joint Global Programme on Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control" (PDF). Who.int. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  7. 1 2 "NCDs | Noncommunicable diseases in emergencies". Who.int. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  8. ↑ "NCDs | ECOSOC adopts resolution for UN to scale up action on NCDs". Who.int. 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  9. ↑ "NCDs | "Friends of the Task Force" to be established at the next session of the UN General Assembly". Who.int. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  10. ↑ "NCDs | Working Together for Health and Development" (PDF). Who.int. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  11. ↑ "A CLOSER LOOK: The Implementation of Taxation on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages by the Government of Barbados - A CIVIL SOCIETY PERSPECTIVE" (PDF). July 2016. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  12. ↑ "Support to the Barbados tax on sugary drinks | NCD Alliance". ncdalliance.org. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  13. ↑ "Intersectoral high-level dialogue in Belarus focuses on increasing efficiency and effectiveness of primary care services for noncommunicable diseases". www.euro.who.int. 2016-07-26. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  14. ↑ "Low- and middle-income countries taking lead in tobacco control, shows WHO assessment". The Indian Express. 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  15. ↑ "Integration of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 in the strategic programs of Kyrgyzstan's healthcare sector and the country's Development Strategy 2030" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  16. ↑ "Congratulations to Mozambique". World Health Organization. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  17. ↑ "Mozambique becomes 181st party to join WHO tobacco conference". FurtherAfrica. 2016-11-08. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  18. ↑ "Oman proposes 50% excise tax on fizzy drinks". Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  19. ↑ "Oman plan to raise tax on 'harmful products' this year". Times of Oman. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  20. ↑ "Seeing Red: How Sri Lanka is striving to stop NCDs". South-East Asia Regional Office. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  21. ↑ "Suger in Food Drinks: Labels That Hide The Poison | Sri Lanka Brief". srilankabrief.org. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  22. ↑ "SRI LANKA'S SUCCESS: ENSURING AFFORDABLE ESSENTIAL MEDICINES FOR ALL" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  23. ↑ "Zambian government places multi-sectoral control and prevention of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) on centre stage following the 5-9 December 2016 visit of UN Inter-Agency Task Force on NCDs. | WHO | Regional Office for Africa". www.afro.who.int. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  24. ↑ "UN Inter-Agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NCDs : How NCDs are reflected in governing body policies, strategies and plans" (PDF). Who.int. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  25. 1 2 "INTEGRATING NCDS INTO UNDAFS : GLOBAL BASELINE AND GLOBAL TARGET WHICH THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION WILL USE AS A MEASURE FOR OMPLEMENTING ITS NCD PROGRAMME" (PDF). Who.int. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  26. ↑ "NCDs | Policy briefs: what government ministries need to know about noncommunicable diseases". Who.int. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
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