Staying positive can be a challenge, and being over-optimistic can be counterproductive and exhausting. But in this blog written for the Global Week of Action on NCDs, Katy Cooper (chair of the UK Working Group on NCDs) sets out our recent engagement with the UK government, making the case that it is absolutely essential to remain actively engaged in the spaces where changes to global health are happening, if NCDs are to be better integrated into health services worldwide.

Continue reading “An NCD year of negatives and positives”

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.

Continue reading “‘From Westminster to the World’: NCDs can no longer be sidelined”

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.

Continue reading “The UN HLM: the art of negotiation”