Hussein Alshamali, Technical Officer (NCD – GCM) at World Health Organization, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the opening of the plenary of the 4th High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health.
‘Above all, let’s remember the reason we are in this room: for the people who are not. The life of the 55-year-old who dies today of lung cancer, the 45-year-old who dies of heart disease, and the 25-year-old who dies of suicide. They are what bring us here, and they are what drive us forward with urgency, equity, and accountability.’
He also urged all countries to turn commitments into sustained action and measurable impact, highlighting three key priorities:
1. Increase investment in promoting health and preventing disease. Health does not start in clinics and hospitals. It starts in homes, schools, streets, and workplaces. In the food people eat, the products they consume, the water they drink, the air they breathe, and the conditions in which they live and work.
2. Integrate services for NCDs and mental health into primary health care at the foundation of universal health coverage. Every community should have trained health workers, affordable diagnostics, quality-assured essential medicines and health products, and continuity of care across the life course.
3. Deliver equity through access and accountability. That means making essential medicines and technologies available and affordable to all, with financing that reduces out-of-pocket costs. It means tracking the targets transparently through robust surveillance and regular reporting so progress is visible, gaps are identified, and leaders are accountable.”
More posts featuring Hussein Alshamali.