Investing in Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Management to Advance the Sustainable Development Goals
2018
This article introduces The Lancet Taskforce on NCDs and Economics, a series of five papers examining the inextricable link between economic growth and controlling non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Within Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, Target 3.4 is a commitment to reduce premature NCD mortality by one-third by 2030. NCDs cause 70 percent of mortality worldwide, disproportionately in low- and middle-income countries.
The Lancet Taskforce argues that advancing the vision of SDG 3.4 is intimately connected to global progress on 9 other SDGs related to poverty reduction (SDG 1), hunger and sustainable food systems (SDG 2), health (SDG 3), education (SDG 4), gender equality (SDG 5), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), reduced inequality (SDG 10), livable cities (SDG 11), and sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12). Identifying and understanding these linkages across SDGs is integral in building the multidisciplinary alliances and political will needed to reduce NCDs worldwide. The article further explains how poverty drives and is driven by NCDs; how price policies, like excise taxes, are feasible and cost-effective approaches to controlling NCD risk factors; and how NCD control contributes to a more productive labor force and economic growth. A key takeaway of the entire series is that ministries of both finance and health should consider enacting policies which improve health, given the strong connections between health, economic growth, and poverty.
Source:
Nugent R et al. Investing in Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Management to Advance the Sustainable Development Goals. The Lancet 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30667-6.