Sharjah NCDs declaration adopted: civil society united towards 2030
Over 200 civil society representatives from 6 contents adopted the Sharjah Declaration on NCDs at the first Global NCD Alliance forum. South Africa was represented Elize Joubert (CEO CANSA) and Vicki Pinkney-Atkinson. Click here to download the declaration.
The SA NCD Alliance committed to support the 2030 Agenda (code for Sustainable Development Goals) by:
- Joining forces – working together;
- Accelerating NCDs action by advocating for change;
- Increasing accountability for NCDs by monitoring progress. (see NCDs Score Card.)
We call on the SA government and policy makers to:
- Encourage high-level government authorities across all sectors to champion NCD prevention and control and integrate NCDs into national development plans and frameworks;
- Accelerate the implementation of agreed plans, political commitments, targets and goals, and promote evidence-based, affordable and cost-effective, population-wide interventions;
- Allocate adequate, sustained human and financial resources to NCD prevention and control;
- Protect public health policies from interference by vested interests, particularly from the alcohol, tobacco and food and beverage industries, and from legal challenges under international trade and investment agreements;
- Protect the fundamental human right to health and create environments that empower individuals, families and communities to make healthy choices and lead healthy lives;
- Ensure all people living with NCDs have access to affordable, quality NCD services, medicines and technologies, across the entire continuum of care, including palliative care;
- Engage civil society and people living with or affected by NCDs in policy development, implementation, coordination mechanisms and monitoring, and provide capacity-building to NCD alliances and networks, particularly in low- and middle-income countries;
- Establish robust and transparent monitoring and evaluation systems in order to regularly report on NCD policy progress and health outcomes at national, regional and global level.