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.

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/

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.

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

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