From Commitment to Impact: Scaling Access to NCD Medicines and Products

09 Jul 2026

Mia Grupper represented the WSO at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Coalition for Access to NCD Medicines & Products, held in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting brought together ministerial representatives from seven African countries alongside people with lived experience, civil society organizations, regional bodies, academia, development partners, and the private sector to discuss how to accelerate progress in addressing NCDs

The meeting focused on the progress made since the Fourth United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs and, more importantly, the actions needed to translate political commitments into meaningful health outcomes. Participants agreed that achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.4 and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) will require sustained investment, stronger health systems, resilient supply chains, and equitable access to essential NCD medicines, products, and services through primary health care.

A key highlight was the opportunity for countries to share practical examples of how national commitments are being implemented. These experiences demonstrated that effective solutions already exist and that meaningful progress is possible when governments, healthcare providers, communities, and partners work together. A recurring theme throughout the meeting was that no country can address the growing burden of NCDs in isolation. Collaboration, knowledge sharing, and cross-sector partnerships will be essential to scale successful approaches and improve access to care for millions of people living with NCDs.

During the meeting, participants also visited a primary health care facility, providing valuable insight into the delivery of integrated, community-based services. Seeing high-quality care delivered at the primary care level reinforced the importance of investing in accessible health systems that can effectively prevent, detect, and manage NCDs close to where people live.

Encouragingly, stroke is receiving increasing recognition within national NCD strategies across Africa. An important opportunity to build on this momentum will be the World Stroke Summit, taking place in Johannesburg on 6–7 August, where policymakers, clinicians, researchers, and advocates will come together to advance the stroke agenda across the region.

Integrating stroke into broader NCD policies and strengthening services across the continuum of care will be critical to reducing its global burden and ensuring that more people have access to the care they need throughout their lives.

The meeting concluded with a clear message: the challenge is no longer identifying what works. Proven solutions are available. The priority now is to strengthen partnerships, maintain political commitment, and scale these interventions so that everyone, regardless of where they live, has access to the essential medicines, products, and services they need.

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