The UK Working Group on NCDs is concerned that the most recent draft (known as Rev 2, published on 25 July 2025) of the Political Declaration of the UN High-level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health not only lacks ambition but is in danger of backsliding on earlier positions. We have written to the UK’s Mission at the UN in New York, setting out some of these issues and urging him to bring them (and those of the NCD Alliance) to the attention of other Member States before the conclusion of negotiations in the next few days, so that the text can remain a strong tool for the prevention and control of NCDs globally.
While there is much that is positive in the current draft, our concerns include the downplaying the targets to use more passive language and to reduce the scale of ambition – in particular, the changes from 80% coverage to just 60% coverage by financial protection policies, by integrated NCD and MHPSS in national preparedness and response frameworks, and by NCD/mental health surveillance and monitoring systems. In addition, we are concerned that references to global coverage targets on both diabetes (paragraph 59) and cervical cancer (paragraph 51) have been removed.
As another example, the proposed weakening of the text of the Political Declaration on commercial determinants is deeply disappointing and to the overall detriment of the Declaration and of the HLM itself. Prevention of NCDs is vital for the health of this and future generations – but Rev 2 is weaker across unhealthy food, alcohol and tobacco. This includes the removal of sugar-sweetened beverages from the list of products that should be covered by health taxes (which are a vital win–win for health and economies), deleting the reference to graphic/plain-packaging for tobacco products, a weakening of language on tobacco advertising/promotion/sponsorship, and removing commitments on WHO’s alcohol ‘best buys’.
As our letter noted, the UK is well placed to take a lead on much that is in the Political Declaration, as the UK government has a strong record in so many areas, not least in universal health coverage (the NHS), health taxes (including the Soft Drinks Industry Levy) and tobacco control, the benefits of which are so clear. We hope that the UK will make a strong statement at HLM4 on the need for effective implementation of the Declaration, delivered by a senior member of the Government – as was the case at the first HLM on NCDs, in 2011, when the then health minister, Andrew Lansley, took an active role.
Finally, civil society is an essential partner in progress on NCDs (although this, too, is not sufficiently recognised and encouraged within Rev 2), and we reiterated the UK Working Group’s commitment to supporting the UK government in the pursuit of shared goals to scale up and accelerate action on NCDs as part of our country’s global health and development initiatives.
Photo by Bernd 📷 Dittrich on Unsplash
UK Working Group on NCDs 