White Paper: Germany's role in the fight against NCDs worldwide

Discussion in the Bundestag: “Silent Epidemic – Non-communicable Diseases in Focus”

Non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, as well as mental and neurological diseases, are considered a silent epidemic: worldwide, NCDs account for around 75% of all deaths, and 77% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries – often before the age of 70, due to limited availability of prevention, diagnostics, and treatment there.

Together with the Global Health Hub Germany, we hosted a parliamentary evening on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at the German Bundestag on October 8th. Under the patronage of Susanne Hierl (Member of Parliament, CSU), Prof. Harald Renz from the University of Marburg, global health expert Sabani Chakraborty, and Dr. Alina Brandes from the Federal Ministry of Health discussed urgently needed strategies for addressing this growing challenge with representatives from politics, science, and civil society.

The discussion highlighted that, given the dwindling financial resources, close cross-sectoral cooperation between politics, business, science, and civil society is needed to create synergies and strengthen health systems in the long term. We also emphasize this in our new Whitepaper on NCDs, in which we outline the major challenges and provide recommendations for policymakers.