Regional Commitment to Combating Noncommunicable Diseases
Health authorities across the Americas have unanimously backed a new 2025-2030 Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) during the 62nd Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The plan represents a pivotal effort to reduce premature deaths and improve the quality of life for millions living with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory conditions.
Three Strategic Lines of Action
The plan centers on three integrated strategic lines designed to drive concrete progress:
- Reducing risk factors and expanding health promotion interventions to prevent NCDs from taking root in the first place.
- Integrating NCD prevention and management into primary health care to improve diagnosis, treatment, and control at the community level.
- Strengthening surveillance of NCDs and their risk factors to enable timely, data-driven policymaking and rapid course correction.
These lines aim to reverse a troubling trend: the Americas experience about 6 million NCD-related deaths each year, with nearly 40% occurring before age 70. The plan also highlights the need for a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to health as a core development objective.
Why This Plan Matters Now
Despite progress, NCDs remain the region’s leading cause of death and disability. The epidemic is driven by risk factors such as tobacco use, harmful alcohol consumption, poor diets, physical inactivity, and obesity. Recent data show:
- Over 35% of adults are physically inactive.
- About one in three adults live with obesity.
- Hypertension control remains low, with only around 36% of affected individuals under effective management.
- More than 40 million people with diabetes lack adequate treatment.
By strengthening primary care and expanding prevention measures, the plan seeks to close these gaps, ensuring more people are diagnosed early, treated effectively, and supported to maintain healthier lifestyles.
Key Measures that Could Drive Change
Among the concrete actions endorsed are:
- Implementing fiscal policies to curb tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.
- Mandatory front-of-package warning labels on ultra-processed foods and restrictions on marketing to protect vulnerable groups.
- Integrating NCD prevention and treatment into primary care to improve access, diagnosis, and control rates.
- Expanding vaccination and screening programs for cancers, including HPV vaccination and cervical cancer screening.
- Leveraging digital tools to strengthen data surveillance, monitor progress, and inform evidence-based policymaking.
These measures are designed to be adaptable to country contexts while aligning with regional health and sustainable development goals.
Implementation, Monitoring, and Support
The action plan includes a robust monitoring framework with biennial reviews, a midterm assessment in 2028, and a final report in 2031. PAHO commits to helping member states mobilize the resources needed to implement priority actions, including technical assistance and capacity-building within health systems.
Dr. Anselm Hennis, PAHO’s Director of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, underscored the plan’s potential to foster more resilient, people-centered health systems. “Its implementation will enable us to move toward more resilient health systems that are centered on people and their communities,” Hennis said.
A Shared Vision for Public Health
With this collectively endorsed strategy, the Americas reaffirm their commitment to reducing the regional burden of NCDs and advancing sustainable development. The plan invites governments, civil society, and private sectors to collaborate in reducing risk factors, enhancing care, and leveraging data to save lives now and in the future.
