WHO Informal Consultation on People Living with NCDs

On 9th-11th December 2020, World Obesity Federation members and patient experts joined a WHO consultation on People Living with NCDs and called for greater engagement of people living with obesity in global NCD agenda.

The importance around the need to engage people living with NCDs (PLWNCDs) in the noncommunicable diseases (NCD) response has substantially grown over the years. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a deadly interplay with the NCD epidemic. NCDs dramatically increase the risk of developing a severe COVID-19 illness, accompanied by higher mortality rates, and it is vital that we focus during this time on improving the health and reducing the vulnerability of PLWNCDs while addressing long-term well-being through public health initiatives.

In order get a better understanding of meaningful engagement of PLWNCDs, the GCM/NCD Secretariat invited WHO colleagues, UN agencies, WHO Civil Society Working Group members and Non-State Actors to a consultation on identifying opportunities and challenges in the meaningful engagement of PLWNCDs. A central pillar of this consultation was to ensure the meaningful participatory process with PLWNCDs as key drivers of the agenda, conversations and outcomes.

World Obesity is committed to advocating for people-centred care and ensuring that PLWNCDs are at the heart of all of World Obesity’s work. This consultation and the inclusion of PLWNCDs is a positive step and we will continue to advocate for the following:

• Obesity to be recognised as a disease
• A WHO resolution on obesity
• Governments commit to introducing upstream policies to improve the environments we live in
• Recommendations on how health professionals should tailor their care for PLWNCDs
• The need to provide safe and respectful health care for PLWNCDs, including resources
• For PLWNCDs to be included in the planning, development and evaluation of interventions and guidelines