An estimated 134 million people will be affected by humanitarian crises in 2018, of whom 68.5 million are refugees or displaced persons. In 2017 alone, 16.2 million people were displaced, either for the first time or repeatedly. This means that one in every 110 people in the world today has been forced from their homes.
Emergencies are becoming increasingly protracted, with displacement sometimes measured in decades. The traditional humanitarian response, however, is short term and reactive, responding to the acute phase of the emergency. Chronic conditions and long-term prevention planning are therefore not part of the response. There is a striking lack of political focus, funding and support for treatment, care and prevention of NCDs in emergency settings, despite the burden that they pose on communities. Successful prevention, care and treatment of NCDs has economic benefits for families, business and society, reduces loss of life and upholds the right to health – and is absolutely necessary to address if governments are to reach their Sustainable Development Goal commitments of a 30 per cent reduction in premature mortality from NCDs by 2030. People affected by emergencies are mong the most vulnerable populations in the world, so if calls for Universal Health Coverage are serious, then their needs must be prioritised.
2018 is an important year for NCDs; September sees a High-Level Meeting on NCDs during the United Nations General Assembly in New York – an opportunity for heads of state and government to recognise and commit to the need to act. The impact of humanitarian crises on NCDs must not be neglected.
