Prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in the COVID-19 response

Moving towards universal health coverage, promoting health and wellbeing, and protecting against health emergencies are the WHO global priorities that are shared by the proposed WHO European Programme of Work 2020–25. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has underlined the importance of interconnecting these strategic priorities. Of the six WHO regions, the European region is the most affected by non-communicable disease (NCD)-related morbidity and mortality and the growth of the NCDs is concerning. Cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes are among the leading causes of death and disability in the region, and an increasing proportion of children and adults are living with overweight or obesity, one of the major risk factors for NCDs. Prevention and control of NCDs are important during this pandemic because NCDs are major risk factors for patients with COVID-19. Additionally, some of the restrictive measures such as lockdowns, social distancing, and travel restrictions to reduce the spread of infection in many countries impact specifically on people living with NCDs by limiting their activity, ability to secure healthy foods, and access to preventive or health promotion services