On May 13, 2025, the co-facilitators—Permanent Representatives of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Luxembourg—circulated the Zero Draft Political Declaration ahead of the Fourth UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health, scheduled for 25 September 2025. Stakeholders and Member States have been invited to submit constructive feedback to inform the final declaration.

In response to this international process, Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) submitted joint inputs from its Planetary Health, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), and Global Health Strategy Projects. These recommendations also reflect insights developed through long-standing work on individual NCD-related areas, such as dementia, mental health, kidney disease, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

We are encouraged by the inclusion of key elements we have long advocated for, such as:

• Dementia as a public health priority
• The growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance
• The importance of meaningful involvement

Additionally, recognizing the increasing global attention to alcohol policy, HGPI is preparing a separate set of recommendations on this issue.

We encourage Member States to:

• Explicitly reflect the planetary health perspective by maintaining references to climate change, air pollution, and biodiversity loss as environmental risk factors impacting NCDs and mental health, and emphasize the importance of building climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable health systems.

• Integrate responses to antimicrobial resistance (AMR)—a growing concern in the context of NCD treatment—by incorporating comprehensive strategies including infection prevention, appropriate diagnostics, and antimicrobial stewardship.

• Strengthen the principles of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through enhanced financial protection, equitable access to health services and medicines, and the integration of mental health and NCD services into primary health care.

To access the summary recommendations, please download the PDFs below.