5 May 2014: Consultations on the scope and modalities of a UN review on preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have resulted in a draft resolution. According to the co-facilitators, Bénédicte Frankinet (Belgium) and Courtenay Rattray (Jamaica), the draft “constitutes the basis for a consensus.” By the text, the review will take place as a two-day high-level meeting involving ministers and senior officials in July 2014 at UN Headquarters in New York, US.

According to the draft resolution, the review will take stock of progress on implementing the commitments in the Political Declaration resulting from the first high-level meeting on NCDs, held in September 2011. It will also identify and reduce gaps, and reaffirm the political commitment to respond to NCD-related challenges.

The text also decides that: the the UNGA President, together with leaders of the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and civil society will open the meeting; the theme will be ‘Taking stock of progress in implementing the Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of NCDs and scaling up of national and multi-sectoral responses to the prevention and control of NCDs including in the context of the post-2015 development agenda;’ it will consist of plenaries and two roundtables, on capacity building and partnerships respectively; and the UNGA President will convene an informal interactive hearing to receive input on the review from representatives of civil society, academia and the private sector, no later than June 2014.

In the 2011 political declaration, countries agreed on actions to: reduce risk and create health-promoting environments; strengthen national policies and health systems; and undertake collaborative partnerships, research and monitoring. The declaration calls for a comprehensive review and assessment in 2014 of the progress achieved. [Draft Resolution] [2011 Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases] [WHO Webpage on NCDs]