Guillaume Muhoza
The 4th Global NCD Alliance Forum in Kigali echoed with powerful voices demanding action on the growing crisis of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Here are some of the most compelling quotes from the forum, highlighting the urgency and complexity of the challenge:
- “215 million people lost their lives due to NCDs in these last five years. 215 million. To put that into context, that is the population size of Nigeria. These aren’t anonymous numbers, these are people we know, members of our community, our family members and friends, whose precious lives could have been saved.” – Monika Arora, President of the NCD Alliance
- “Promises made by governments are ringing hollow. Progress towards the 2025 targets is wildly off track, and the 2030 SDGs hang in the balance. As a result, we are living in a world where NCDs, ill health and disability are the norm rather than the exception.” – Monika Arora
- “We need to focus on investment in prevention. It’s easy. It’s cheap. It’s doable. We need to be working with people living with NCDs, ensuring they are our mouthpiece. We should never get tired of awareness.” – Dr. Mary Amuyunzu-Nyamongo, NCD Alliance, Kenya
- “The industry has a lot of money, but we have something much more valuable: commitment, ethics, the ability to act, and the motivation to protect our children, friends, and families. That cannot be bought with money.” – Diego Rodriguez, Uruguay NCD Alliance,
- “I have the right to know what is in the products I consume.” – Vivian Leal, Costa Rica SaludHable
- “Our environment and our lifestyle is changing so much that with that change in the lifestyle and environment, I think we are having an increasing burden of diabetes and especially obesity and overweight on such a high rise. I think that is also precipitating the increasing burden of diabetes in our continent.” – Professor Kaushik Ramaiya, World Diabetes Foundation and Global NCD Alliance
- “When you are dependent on a donor programme, you need to have a strategy whereby you are going to have a sustainable plan which you can take over locally. So there has to be a local ownership of that plan.” – Professor Kaushik Ramaiya
- “Fine, have a partnership, but when you have a partnership, look at how it is going to be sustainable when the partner leaves, so we should be thinking long term.” – Professor Kaushik Ramaiya
- “I want to be the voice for the people out there.” – Prisca Githuka, cancer survivor from Kenya
- “We know how to reduce the NCD burden, we have the toolkit of solutions at our fingertips. What is needed is political leadership and financing commensurate with the burden to rapidly scale the implementation.” – Katie Dain, CEO of the NCD Alliance
