On the road to 2025: Kick-off meeting of the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on Non-communicable diseases (WHO GCM/NCD)

In 2024, the GCM/NCD will convene its Participants on multiple occasions in view of assessing progress, identifying recurrent and new challenges, and drafting practical recommendations to the upcoming Fourth High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (HLM4) on the prevention and control of NCDs in 2025.

Some 15 million premature deaths related to NCDs have occurred each year since the last high-level meeting in 2018. The HLM4 hence calls for the urgent adaptation of a new, ambitious, yet achievable political declaration on NCDs that is both evidence-informed and firmly grounded in human rights principles.

Multisectoral and multistakeholder approaches remain a promising framework to accelerate the global, national and local NCD responses, placing countries on a collaborative and sustainable path towards reducing the risk of dying prematurely from NCDs, improve mental health care, and save lives.

The outcomes of the 2024 GCM/NCD meetings will culminate in the recommendations of the Second General Meeting to be held in September 2024 and align with other thematic WHO co-sponsored meetings.

The first of these gatherings is the kick-off GCM Participants meeting to be held virtually on April 8, 2024.

Objectives of the Kick-off Meeting (2024) for GCM Participants

• Present GCM milestones in 2022-2023
• Facilitate ownership of the renewed GCM Engagement Strategy and alignment with the planned activities for 2024.
• Lay out the roadmap for the Second General Meeting of the GCM/NCD to contribute to the preparation of HLM4.

Date: Monday, 8 April 2024; 14:00 – 16:15 CET (TBC)

Location: Virtual – Participants will join via a Zoom link (to be shared in due course)

Language: The event will be conducted in English.

Participation: GCM Participants: Member States regional coordinators, nongovernmental organizations, philanthropic foundations, private sector associations, academic institutions and people lived experiences on NCDs and mental conditions.