As the Global Week for Action on NCDs gets underway, NCD Alliance launches a new policy brief setting out four financing priorities to expand equitable access to NCD medicines, diagnostics and medical devices.
From Commitment to Action: Financing priorities to scale equitable access for NCDs and mental health calls on governments to move beyond commitments and take concrete steps to achieve equitable access, strengthen financial protection and reduce the cost of essential NCD care.
The brief comes as countries work towards commitments made in the 2025 Political Declaration on NCDs and Mental Health, including targets for 60% of countries to have financial protection policies in place for NCD and mental health services, and for 80% of primary healthcare (PHC) facilities to have WHO-recommended essential medicines and basic technologies available at affordable prices by 2030.
For many people living with NCDs, however, access remains unaffordable. Essential NCD medicines and medical devices are still excluded from many national health benefit packages, while the need for long-term or lifelong treatment can place a significant financial burden on individuals and households.
The brief notes that 100 million households are pushed into extreme poverty each year by out-of-pocket health spending, with much of this burden driven by NCDs and mental health conditions.
Turning commitments into funded action
The new brief sets out a series of recommendations for governments to strengthen sustainable financing and make access to NCD medicines and devices more equitable and affordable:
- Establish concrete spending targets for NCDs. Governments must identify national NCD priorities and the amount of funding required to achieve them. The aim should be integration of NCD and mental health care into UHC benefit packages, with policies to ensure care reaches those being left behind.
- Advance towards sustainable NCD financing through coherent fiscal policies, including health taxes and removal of health harming subsidies. These policies offer a ‘triple win’ by improving population health, relieving health system burden, and generating significant public resources.
- Deploy targeted access levers to lower costs, including strategic purchasing, pricing and procurement approaches, alongside local and regional manufacturing where appropriate.
- Invest in data and surveillance to ensure health budgets are informed by disaggregated data. This data is also essential to support accountability, equitable resource allocation, and accurate forecasting of NCD medicines and devices.
Building on Advancing Access
From Commitment to Action complements NCD Alliance’s Advancing Access: Global priorities to improve access to NCD medicines, diagnostics and medical devices, published in July.
While Advancing Access sets out the broader policy and technical priorities for improving access, the new brief focuses specifically on the financing decisions needed to turn those priorities into action. The two publications are intended to be read together.
Launching the brief at the start of the Global Week for Action on NCDs reinforces this year’s focus on leadership: turning political commitments into concrete investment, stronger financial protection and more affordable access for people living with NCDs.