NCD Lab: Supporting grassroots innovation to tackle noncommunicable diseases

Responding to the global NCD epidemic calls for novel, evidence-informed and equitable interventions that combine new technologies with outside-the-box ideas, multidisciplinary thinking, and cross-sectoral action. Launched by the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on NCDs (GCM/NCD), the NCD Lab supports promising grassroots innovations to achieve scale by building knowledge and forging strategic partnerships across this exciting ecosystem.

Are you an innovator working on a project to address NCDs in your community? Watch this space for the next opportunity to share your project with us.

Discover the NCD Lab
WHO NCD Lab
Credits

Great ideas start with a spark– and grow from the ground up

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and heart disease are the world’s biggest causes of death and disability. Their causes are multifaceted and complex, spanning from social, economic, and cultural factors to behavior patterns and health literacy.

Bottom-up, grassroots health initiatives that mobilize community knowledge and account for local contexts often prove more effective, equitable and sustainable in addressing NCDs than externally managed, ‘top-down’ interventions. If locally sourced innovations can be corroborated by evidence and scaled in different settings, they could have major national or even global impact.

Read the eligibility criteria

SPOTLIGHT

Join the Grassots Innovation on NCDs Comunity

The Grassroots Innovations on NCDs community is a global network of innovators, researchers, funders, accelerators, policymakers and other key stakeholders committed to scaling up locally-driven solutions to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in communities and countries. The community is open to everyone interested in sourcing and scaling innovative ideas that help tackle NCDs from the bottom up. Join now by providing some more information about yourself, your work and your interests.

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Capacity building resources

NCD Lab Innovators are supported to achieve greater impact through opportunities to shape global NCD priorities, dedicated knowledge and capacity-building resources, communications support, and more. Explore our resources


NCD Lab thematic areas

The NCD Lab supports innovative projects in three main thematic areas ‘Women and Girls’, ‘NCDs and the Next Generation’, and ‘Meaningful Engagement of People Living with NCDs and Mental Health Conditions’. Each thematic area is co-chaired by a GCM/NCD Participant and supported by a Steering Group with international experts from multiple sectors.

Share your project. Join the NCD Lab's global network.

The NCD Lab accepts expressions of interest from individuals, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, private sector entities and philanthropic foundations in accordance with the WHO Framework of engagement with non-State actors

Projects may not be connected to or funded by any of the following industries: tobacco, arms, pharmacological, food and beverage, sports, gaming, alcohol, gambling, or sports betting.

Read the eligibility criteria