UK Working Group on NCDs

‘From Westminster to the World’: NCDs can no longer be sidelined

Blog by Katie Jakeman (Age International)

On 27 January 2026, Action for Global Health (AfGH) brought together parliamentarians and advocates at Westminster to reaffirm the UK’s role in global health. As representatives of the UK Working Group on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), Age International (Katie Jakeman) and The George Institute for Global Health (Jieun Lee) highlighted the urgent need for stronger political leadership on the world’s leading causes of death.

The UN HLM: the art of negotiation

The United Nations Political Declaration on NCDs and mental health was – at last – adopted by the UN in mid-December 2025, almost three months after the High-level Meeting, with 175 Member States in favour, two against (no surprises that these were the United States and Argentina) and one abstention. An article written by the UK Working Group and published in Cancer Control 2025 in November 2025 sets out the process of drafting the Political Declaration (with the negotiations – between Member States – taking place largely behind closed doors) and picks out some highlights (and low-lights) of the resulting final draft.

Calling on the UK government to support a strong Political Declaration

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.