The global commitment to noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention and treatment was a key theme at the United Nations General Assembly last week as the UN and the World Health Organization (WHO) continue to prioritize NCDs as a key aspect to advancing the UN's sustainable development goals. Among other activities in New York, two separate reports from the NCD Alliance and the Interamerican Society of Cardiology served as catalysts for calls to action.

The NCD Alliance's "Protecting Populations, Preserving Futures: Optimising the Health Workforce to Combat NCDs and Achieve UHC" report demonstrates the primary challenges and barriers faced by all countries, notably lower- and middle-income countries attempting to address the significant health care shortage in context of increasingly dire NCDs. Presented by ACC Vice President Neal Kovach, the report explores the optimal level of health workforce for NCDs across the continuum of care observed in different regions with the goal of presenting existing and novel strategies for optimizing the health workforce. In particular, the report features the ACC's the Global CVD Prevention Program – a joint effort between the ACC and Pfizer/Upjohn – as a case study. "By equipping doctors around the world with the most up-to-date knowledge the medical community has to offer on cardiovascular disease and its prevention," the report says, "the program ensures that doctors have the basic competencies to recognize disease risk factors, provide treatment, and pass their knowledge on to patients." The report outlines ACC's continued plans for building on these efforts, including a webinar series in four key countries – Mexico, Russia, Argentina and the UAE – later this year. Additionally, work is underway to develop and disseminate an online certificate program in cardiovascular disease and NCDs targeting primary care clinicians in low- and middle-income countries next year.

Also last week, the Interamerican Society of Cardiology released the Rosario Declaration, which seeks to offer the grounds for preliminary research and action taken towards the prevention of NCDs in the South American continent. The report, supported and coauthored by the World Heart Federation and the Parliamentary Union and the South American Mercosur, notes that NCDs cause four out of five deaths in the region, mainly represented by cardiovascular, cancer, respiratory diseases and diabetes. The declaration breaks down multiple factors influencing this number and calls for a multi-pronged approach to change the trend, saying "awareness…must be accompanied by a legislative framework that helps [generate] profound changes and thus reverse the current health status."

The ACC has long engaged with efforts to reduce the incidence of NCDs and is working with leading health care societies and organizations worldwide to drive real-world, on-the-ground change. Additionally, the College is partnering with the WHF to present ACC.20 Together With the World Congress of Cardiology in Chicago next March, where sessions and activities will continue to drive this message forward. Early bird registration is open.

Visit the NCD hub on ACC.org to learn more.

Clinical Topics: Cardiovascular Care Team

Keywords: World Health Organization, Mexico, Argentina, United Nations, Delivery of Health Care, Cardiovascular Diseases, Continuity of Patient Care, Primary Health Care, ACC International

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