Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for about three-quarters of annual deaths worldwide, but they are underfunded relative to the impact they have on people and economies. Locally tailored funding models can help improve health outcomes worldwide.
Free medical activities offered to the people of Ajibarang village at Banyumas Hospital in Indonesia. Photo: Mufid Majnun
The world is facing a cascade of crises—conflicts, climate change, economic upheaval, and pandemics. These challenges are compounded by the rapid rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), fuelled by urbanisation, changing lifestyles, and ageing populations. Against this backdrop, it is clear that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include universal health coverage (UHC), must be pursued with even greater urgency.
UHC, which promises quality healthcare for everyone, everywhere, without undue financial hardship, represents a pathway to significant health, societal, and economic gains. Yet, amid these efforts, one important omission persists: NCDs. Failing to fully integrate chronic conditions into UHC frameworks undermines health equity, weakens health systems, and leaves the most vulnerable behind.
For decades, infectious diseases have dominated global health agendas. However, the epidemiological shift towards NCDs—including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and respiratory diseases—has reshaped today’s health landscape. NCDs now account for more than 70% of deaths worldwide, making them the leading cause of mortality and disability. This burden is most acute in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where 85% of premature NCD deaths occur. This overwhelms already fragile health systems and derails the achievement of both SDG 3.8 (UHC) and SDG 3.4: reducing premature NCD mortality. Without prioritising NCD prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, and care within UHC frameworks, these goals remain unattainable.
Progress toward UHC—and, by extension, the goal of reducing NCDs—has been further hampered by several challenges, including insufficient financing, workforce shortages, quality concerns, and gaps in political commitment and accountability. The theme for UHC Day 2024 is “Health: It’s on the government,” underscoring the critical need for decisive government leadership and investment. Yet, governments cannot deliver UHC alone. Non-state actors, including the private sector, also play a vital role. Addressing these challenges demands a shift away from ineffective, siloed, vertical approaches toward more coordinated action and inclusive, multisectoral collaboration.
Access to comprehensive, quality NCD care for all is a fundamental prerequisite for UHC. To make progress, we must take transformative actions that address financial and systemic barriers to NCD care while also advancing UHC. These include:
Integrating quality NCD services into national health benefit packages.
Ensuring equitable access to quality NCD services across the continuum of care for all populations.
Supporting governments to increase domestic investment and enable diverse financing mechanisms.
Delivering financial risk protection mechanisms that prevent healthcare costs from driving people living with NCDs into poverty.
Aligning global development goals with local health priorities to ensure UHC strategies reflect different countries’ contexts.
Engaging people living with NCDs in the design of UHC schemes to effectively meet their needs.
How can the private sector contribute? The private sector has demonstrated its commitment and capacity to drive solutions at scale. Access Accelerated, a collective of innovative biopharmaceutical companies, offers a model for how multisectoral collaboration can advance both NCD outcomes and the achievement of UHC in LMICs. Since 2017, Access Accelerated has worked with partners to support more than 40 projects from 2022 to 2024 that advance UHC by expanding access to NCD services, improving care quality, and reducing financial hardship.
Key achievements to date include funding World Bank activities to expand universal primary healthcare and projects like the Healthy Longevity Initiative, which explores innovative mechanisms to enhance financial protection for patients. The World Bank now manages a multi-billion-dollar portfolio supporting NCD-related projects globally. Additionally, Access Accelerated has supported partners including City Cancer Challenge, NCD Alliance, PATH, and the World Heart Federation to bolster in-country NCD efforts with a focus on UHC.
LMICs have shown that progress is possible with the right support and partnerships, strong political commitment, efficient resource allocation, and innovative financing models. However, inadequate NCD financing remains a major obstacle to further progress. Recognising the opportunity to build on the existing momentum and address this gap, Access Accelerated recently launched the Financing Accelerator Network for NCDs (FAN) via a technical partnership with the World Bank in collaboration with Results for Development (R4D).
FAN aims to help governments develop locally relevant policies and models that strengthen sustainable NCD financing. Its network of regional NCD Financing Accelerators provides on-demand technical support, cross-country learning opportunities, and catalytic seed funding for programs aimed at improving NCD financing and health outcomes. The first accelerator, hosted by the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), leads efforts in sub-Saharan Africa. Additional accelerators are planned for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific in the next two years.
FAN demonstrates how collaboration with countries and local stakeholders across sectors, including health and finance, can build strong coalitions committed to shared goals—including SDG 3 and the World Bank’s target of delivering quality healthcare to 1.5 billion people by 2030. Access Accelerated’s mission is to improve NCD care and financing as part of UHC.
Looking ahead, the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs represents a critical moment as world leaders gather to define a vision for tackling NCDs through 2030, 2050, and beyond. This vision must place NCDs at the center of the global health agenda and UHC efforts, recognising them as a shared responsibility. Health: It’s on all of us.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Re:solve Global Health.
Herb Riband is director of Access Accelerated, a unique collective initiative of innovative pharmaceutical companies. Drawing on over 30 years of leadership experience in biotechnology, medical technology, consumer goods, consulting, and law, his expertise spans global health, healthcare policy, access, government affairs, philanthropy, and communications, with a focus on advancing equitable healthcare and addressing NCDs through innovative, sustainable solutions.
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