• Panel 6:
New initiatives from international partners to scale up technical support to low- and
middle-income countries in addressing noncommunicable diseases and Injuries
The role of the Resident Coordinator and the UN Country team
in shaping the NCD/Injuries agenda at country level
Dr. Mohammed Belhocine,
UN Resident Coordinator, Tunisia
1. Where are we with the NCD/Injuries agenda?
1. At the health sector level
2. At the level of the national development plan
2. What can be the role of the RC system and the
UN Country Team?
1. What to do?
2. How to do it ?
3. Conclusion
WHERE ARE WE? HEALTH SECTOR LEVEL
1. Lack of recognition of NCDs and Injuries as a public
health problem
2. NCDs and Injuries acknowledged but interventions
remain mainly curative/ hospital focused
3. NCDs and Injuries are acknowledged, interventions,
are sectoral but except from pilot/demonstration
zones, coverage and access to NCD/Injuries specific
care remain partial. Sustainability issue.
WHERE ARE WE? NAT. DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
1. Lack of awareness of the link between some
social/cultural/ determinants and NCDs/Injuries
2. Lack of recognition of the link between
NCDs/Injuries and poverty
3. Compartmentalization of policies/sectors and
tendency to confine solutions to the health.
4. Complacency in the enforcement of health
promoting laws
WHAT TO DO WITHIN THE UNCT
1. Joint approach to address NCDs: leadership
role of WHO
2. To include the NCD/Injuries agenda in the next
generation of UNDAF outcomes: Role of
UNCT/RC
3. Ensure seed funding: Global and local
resource mobilization efforts
WHAT TO DO AMONG PARTNERS?
1. National partners: horizontal dialogue between
different institutional segments, private sector,
civil society and various stakeholders
2. Advocacy and support to the stewardship FOR
health role of the Ministry of health
3. Bilateral and multilateral: Establishing fora for
advocacy, exchange of information and
consensus building on action plans
HOW TO DO IT? THREE PRINCIPLES
1.
2.
3.
Use existing mechanisms instead of ad hoc ones for
NCD/Injuries inclusion in the development agenda.
Bringing the UN together globally and at country
level
Building a consensus on the need to address NCDs/
Injuries holistically using all the institutional tools a
country has to encourage healthy lifestyles, reduce
risk exposure, monitor the magnitude of problems
and mitigate the public health impact
HOW TO DO IT? THREE INTERLINKED MECHANISMS
1. UN : “Delivering as One” in place at country
level; funds available, preferably through a
dedicated fund.
2. Sector wide approach (SWAP) mechanism
3. Alignment and Harmonization of Aid
mechanism in place
DIALOGUE, DIALOGUE, DIALOGUE
• Building a consensus: complementary approach
between:
–
–
–
–
The Scientific fraternity
The State and public Sector
The private sector and the civil society
And all citizens
• Cultural change
• RC system could support countries to bring about this
qualitative change
CONCLUSION
• The RC system could really provide support in shaping
the NCD/Injuries agenda by:
– Having the UNCT speak with one voice
– Including NCDs in the UNDAF agenda
– Engaging in « upstream » work (policy dialogue, technical
advice at the highest levels)
– Supporting consensus building within the entire community:
– Supporting countries to bring about qualitative change
towards healthier lfestyles.