Letter to the co-Chairs of the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs: A call to strong commitments to human rights and affordable medicines and technologies

YP-CDN joins Oxfam and 240 other civil society organizations, academics and activists concerned with access to medicines, human rights and health from around the world to urge that high prices limiting access to affordable medicines, diagnostics and vaccines be addressed in the third High-Level Meeting (HLM) on NCDs.

Read the full letter addressed to the co-Chairs of the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs, H.E Mr Sebastiano Cardi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN and H.E Mr Elbio Rosselli, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the UN.

YP-CDN is concerned that the Zero Draft of the Political Declaration for the HLM on NCDs does not place sufficient emphasis on the health of the public over private interests. Unnecessarily high prices of medicines and technologies should be addressed, as they are not only a barrier to equitable access to care, but also pose a real threat to NCD preventative efforts by consuming a large percentage of limited national health and NCD budgets.

We support other civil society priority recommendations to:

1. Reinvigorate political leadership to accelerate the NCD response
2. Put people first in the NCD response
3. Scale up sustainable and smart financing for NCDs
4. Balance prevention and health systems strengthening for NCDs
6. Follow up and accountability

We also support the call by the NCD Alliance to "commit to adopting effective regulatory measures for the unhealthy commodity industries (tobacco, alcohol, and processed and ultra-processed food), as well as establish and enforce strict engagement principles that manage conflicts of interest, ensure transparency, and safeguard against private sector involvement and influence on public health policymaking"; with full support to address the commercial determinants of health. To take this further, commercial determinants of health should also note caution toward the interests and practices of the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries, given that these have significant implications for people's health, economic well-being, and survival.

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