With 75% of deaths related to NCDs and mental health conditions in low- and middle-income countries – accounting for 32 million lives lost each year – affordable access to key medical tools should be a necessity, not a luxury
Geneva/New York, 16 December 2025 – Yesterday, nearly three months after it was first considered at the fourth UN high-level meeting on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and the promotion of mental health on 25 September 2025, countries adopted the Political Declaration in a critical moment of global solidarity and action. The Declaration was adopted at the same time as people living in low- and middle-income countries – who are disproportionately affected by NCDs and mental health conditions – still lack access to the standard of care available in high-income countries, due in large part to the high prices of essential medical tools.
We commend the inclusion of following key elements in the Political Declaration:
- Inclusion of person-centered language;
- Continuity of care in humanitarian settings;
- Access to affordable health products as a key part of preventing and/or responding to diabetes, mental health conditions, and cervical cancer;
- Time-bound and measurable targets for mental health and hypertension (though no targets were set for diabetes);
- Reference to the TRIPS Agreement and the Doha Declaration (as critical safeguards against unfair extended corporate monopolies that often result in excessively high prices of medical tools); and,
- Health product price transparency to promote access and to address double standards of care.
However, meaningfully addressing the disproportionate effect of NCDs and mental health conditions on people living in low- and middle-income countries requires tangible action to improve access to medical tools. Ensuring people have affordable access to the medical tools that enable them to manage their conditions on their own is critical to achieve better health outcomes. In addition, access to essential tools for the self-management of conditions can immensely improve quality of life, especially for people – including children, pregnant women, and the elderly who are particularly vulnerable – living in low-resource and humanitarian settings where security and stability, already frequently at risk, may deteriorate further due to the compounding effect of climate change and environmental degradation.
Concretely, this means that people managing diabetes must have access to affordable and sustainable supplies of insulin pens and glucose monitoring tools; people managing chronic mental health conditions must have access to affordable and sustainable supplies of long-acting antipsychotic formulations and other pharmaceuticals for anxiety, depression, psychosis and other mental health conditions; access to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical cancer screening as an essential prevention tool is key, and people living with cervical cancer must have access to quality chemotherapy as well as other treatment modalities, including with adapted protocols.
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Related:
- Access Campaign
