ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the WHO Global NCD Action Plan (NCD GAP) that was developed in response to commitments made at the first high-level meeting on NCDs at the UN General Assembly in 2011. The NCD GAP recognizes that four main NCDs (cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes) are the main causes of mortality and disease burden in the world and that these diseases are also largely preventable or can be delayed to later life, by reducing a set of shared risk factors, namely tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and a harmful use of alcohol. Although not initially included in the NCD GAP, air pollution was included as a fifth risk factor for the diseases above by the UN General Assembly in 2018. The chapter summarizes the objectives and underlying principles of the NCD GAP as well as interventions, policy options and enabling actions, as well as targets and indicators included in the NCD GAP. The chapter provides a brief description of how countries can use the NCD GAP. The chapter also summarizes a road map for the remainder of the life of the NCD GAP that was agreed upon by the World Health Assembly in 2022.
