Voices of the Health Revolution

In this episode we’re talking about oral health and noncommunicable diseases, or NCDs, with Dr Greg Chadwick, President of FDI World Dental Federation, and Dr Dympna Kavanagh, Chief Dental Officer for the Republic of Ireland. What they both stress in today’s chat is how the adoption in 2021 of a World Health Assembly resolution flipped the way that most people thought of oral health—primarily as something isolated from general health. Today, both Dympna and Greg are preparing for the first World Health Organization global meeting on oral health which, says Dympna, the WHO insists should be attended by two representatives of Member States—one tasked with oral health, the other with health overall. The silo has been removed and replaced by integration and a multisectoral approach to oral health, which shares many risk factors with NCDs, as you will hear.

Jamaica and other Caribbean countries are known for their leadership in advocating globally for action on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Jamaica Minister of Health and Wellness Dr. Christopher Tufton explains how and why in this episode of the NCD Alliance podcast, Voices of the health revolution. One notable success he singled out is Jamaica Moves, a programme to encourage the general public to be physically active, which builds on people’s love of music and dance. Looking ahead to the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs in 2025, it’s time to declare the NCDs epidemic as a global health emergency, said the Minister. “We are losing our population and indeed the global population in many jurisdictions are on the decline, largely because of premature illness and premature mortality.”'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: actonncds.org

In July, NCD Alliance published The Call To Lead open letter which serves as a crucial advocacy tool, urging all governments to fulfil their commitments to address the burden of NCDs. It calls on Member States to take decisive action at the Fourth UN High-level Meeting on NCDs in September 2025. Open to civil society endorsement, including both organisations and individuals, this sign-on letter will be delivered to world leaders next year.What does it mean to lead on NCDs in 2024? How can we create pressure points for governments to take action? Our Global Week for Action Campaign Coordinator, Gina Sanchez, discussed these questions and the open letter itself with NCD Alliance Policy and Advocacy Director Alison Cox in the latest episode of the Voices of the Health Revolution. 🗨️ "Leaders have a moral imperative to urgently address the global epidemic of noncommunicable diseases. NCDs are not just a health crisis—they threaten our collective future, deepen inequalities, and hinder sustainable development," says Alison.  '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: actonncds.org/take-action/call-to-lead-on-ncds

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.

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.

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/