The Lancet’s Horton Discusses WHO’s Independent High-Level Commission On NCDs, Highlights Controversies, Successes

The Lancet: Offline: NCDs, WHO, and the neoliberal utopia
Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet

“The WHO Independent High-Level Commission on Non-Communicable Diseases presented an important opportunity. Yet, by common consensus, it failed to deliver. … When you look at the totality of the Commission’s proposals, it is far too harsh to call it a failure. On the contrary, it has set a high bar to judge progress in countries and has provided an ambitious manifesto for the U.N. High-Level Meeting on NCDs, to be held later this year. … There are two further important reasons why the Commission should be judged a success. First, it flushed out the chief opponent of political progress — the U.S. government. … Second, the controversy over the Commission’s report highlights the context of the debate about NCDs — namely, the pervasive and escalating dangers of neoliberalism. We should thank the Commission for so expertly clarifying the terms on which the struggle against NCDs must now be fought” (6/16).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

KFF Headquarters: 185 Berry St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107 | Phone 650-854-9400
Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 | Phone 202-347-5270

www.kff.org | Email Alerts: kff.org/email | facebook.com/KFF | twitter.com/kff

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.