Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) countries meet to fast-track multisectoral and multi-stakeholder action for NCD prevention and control

On 14 and 15 December 2023, nine countries from Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) will meet in Astana, Kazakhstan, to strengthen governance, multisectoral action and multistakeholder collaboration for NCD prevention and control.

Organized by the World Health Organization’s Global NCD Platform (GNP), through the Global Coordination Mechanism on NCDs, and supported by  the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the WHO Country Office in Kazakhstan, the two-day workshop will convene representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Integrated collaborative approaches leveraging expertise and support across government sectors and among interdisciplinary stakeholders are urgently needed to address the growing global burden of NCDs and mental health conditions on individuals, communities, and economies. To reduce by one-third premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being (SDG 3.4.), catalyzing whole-of-government and whole-of-society commitments are indispensable.

Multiple global high-level meetings have reaffirmed the value of multisectoral and multistakeholder collaboration, including three United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-level meetings on NCD prevention and control, the WHO Global NCD Action Plan, and the Astana Declaration on Primary Health Care (PHC). Despite these longstanding efforts, many countries still face challenges and limited capacity to establish, manage and sustain such integrated collaborative approaches.

Thematic Collection

Capacity building workshop: Supporting Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) countries to strengthen governance and multisectoral and multi-stakeholder action for NCD prevention and control, Astana, Kazakhstan, 14-15 December 2023.

The recent international conference celebrating the 45th anniversary of Alma-Ata and 5th anniversary of Astana declarations highlighted both achievements and challenges in implementing multisectoral policies and actions on the road to accelerating Integrated Primary Health Care and achieving Universal Health Coverage. Across the policy, system and service provision levels of primary healthcare, multisectoral collaboration has proven beneficial in leveraging policy and programme action from other actors and stakeholders, and promoting lifestyle modification and behaviour interventions to address major risk factors and determinants.  However, proper institutional capacities and mechanisms are warranted at all levels of health systems to implement multisectoral and multistakeholder actions on health.

In close collaboration with Member States, non-State actors and additional partners, the Global NCD Platform offers guidance, frameworks, trainings and tools to leverage multistakeholder collaboration and multisectoral action on NCDs and mental health and provide country support, including dedicated knowledge collaboration platforms, a decision-making tool on private sector engagement, a framework for meaningful engagement of people living with noncommunicable diseases, and mental health and neurological conditions, or by improving the quality of integrated maternal, newborn, and child services and NCD and mental health care.

At the workshop, national NCD and mental health managers and WHO Country Office representatives will share latest country experiences, best practices, and lessons learned, discuss implementation challenges, and explore latest tools and new opportunities for collaboration and support from WHO.