NCDs and the Next Generation
Engage children and young people in countering commercial determinants and drivers of poor health.
Young people as agents of change for a healthier future
NCDs have a significant impact on children and adolescents. Several key drivers of NCDs, including physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, exposure to alcohol and tobacco, and unhealthy or unsafe environments, start during childhood and adolescence. NCDs, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and asthma all affect children and/or start in childhood. Depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders are also among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents. Finally, children and young people are often targeted by industries advertising processed and fast food, tobacco products or alcohol.
Integrated NCD services and prevention strategies tailored to young people should therefore be prioritized urgently. The consequences of failing to address NCDs among young people extend to adulthood, threaten to impair both physical and mental health, and limit opportunities to lead fulfilling lives as adults.
NCD Lab Cycle 4: Innovating PHC for the Next Generation
For its fourth cycle, the NCD Lab welcomes submissions of innovative solutions that transform how NCD and mental health services for children and adolescents are delivered by leveraging the primary health care approach. For example, integrating NCD prevention and early intervention, such as tobacco cessation and mental health counselling, with youth health services or school-based health education and screening programmes have the potential to curb the rising NCD epidemic and ensure young people can access more comprehensive services for healthy growth and development.
Possible submission types
Integrating health services
- NCD prevention and early intervention programmes for young people in primary health care centres
- Youth-friendly health centres/services
- Strengthening integrated primary care for young people living with multiple NCDs or living with an NCD and a chronic communicable disease such as HIV and AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis
- Mobile clinics, digital health or telemedicine, to facilitate remote consultations and follow-up for children and adolescents
- Artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies for improving NCD screening, diagnosis, monitoring and/or management for young people
- Collaborative care models that integrate medical, nursing, and allied health professionals to provide holistic and comprehensive NCD and mental health care
Empowering people and communities
- Community awareness and prevention campaigns for young people
- Engagement of children and adolescents with lived experience in clinical decision-making, self-care and management of their own health and wellbeing
- Leadership and empowerment of young people in their communities through enhanced health literacy
- Innovations in medical education, including pre-service training
- Culturally-sensitive interventions (e.g. collaborations with local communities to design and tailor interventions to specific cultural contexts)
Strengthening multisectoral policy and action for integrated PHC
- E.g. healthy nutrition/obesity/substance use interventions in PHC
- Multi-sectoral activities jointly planned and executed by sub-national/local/district authorities from health, education, sports, parks & horticulture, etc.
Submissions for the 4th cycle of the NCD Lab are now closed. Selected projects will be announced in September 2024.
NCDs and the next generation: Featured NCD Lab projects
SPOTLIGHT
Join the Grassroots Innovation on NCDs Community
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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