With the fourth High-level United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting taking place in New York the week of Sept. 22, the ACC hosted two separate side events tied into the overall theme of "Equity and Integration: Transforming Lives and Livelihoods Through Leadership and Action on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-Being."

The first event, hosted in collaboration with the NCD Alliance and World Heart Federation and with support from Viatris, explored the critical link between financing, workforce capacity and NCD care. Centered around the theme of the health workforce, the session was designed to foster multi-sectoral collaboration and policy innovation around sustainable, scalable solutions for ensuring equitable, high-quality care for people living with NCDs worldwide.

Keynote speaker Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, the CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, kicked off the event by underscoring the need for investment in the health workforce to address the global burden of NCDs. "Progress on NCDs is not going to be possible without a proper workforce," he said. "Team-based care is essential." He also highlighted the potential for artificial intelligence to work as part of that team. "AI has poor judgment," he said, "but remarkable information storage, speed, and 24/7 availability. Used wisely, it can help us work better and achieve better outcomes."

Two separate panels offered insights and perspectives into new health workforce reports and the lived experiences of community health workers in countries around the world, respectively. Among the findings presented, a new survey from the ACC shed light on job satisfaction, burnout and teamwork. Based on feedback from NCD Academy participants, the report underscored the importance of frontline clinician voices as health systems face rising demands, workforce shortages and the continued burden of NCDS.

The second event, built upon the ongoing, multi-year collaboration between JACC, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, featured data from the latest Global Burden of Disease report, published in JACC.

The report authors presented the most up-to-date data for 204 countries and territories, and discussed trends observed from 1990 to 2023 at the regional, national and subnational levels. They also stressed the urgent need for real multilateral progress to mitigate the global impact of NCDs.

"As world leaders gather for the UNGA, the ACC is seizing this pivotal moment to spotlight the progress made in transforming cardiovascular care and advancing heart health worldwide," said ACC President Christopher M. Kramer, MD, FACC, in a Leadership Page published in JACC. "...Together, we must continue to engage directly with communities affected by NCDs to ensure equitable access to prevention, treatment, and lifelong care. The time to act is now – because every heart matters."

Coming out of the UNGA meeting, the adoption of a political declaration setting ambitious targets and commitments for NCD prevention, control, and mental health support through 2050 is expected.

Clinical Topics: Cardiovascular Care Team

Keywords: Noncommunicable Diseases, Global Burden of Disease, Workforce, Global Health