The Healthy India Alliance organised the First National Civil Society Consultation on Non Communicable Diseases in India from 25th to 27th April, 2016 in New Delhi, in collaboration with the World Health Organization Country Office for India, the NCD Alliance and the American Cancer Society. The objective of the consultation was to provide CSOs a combination of capacity building, information and networking sessions and facilitate a concrete way forward to augment CSO engagement for NCD prevention and control. The Consultation also sought to provide an interface between government; UN institutions like WHO, UNDP, UNICEF and civil society organisations, to develop strategic partnerships for achieving India’s national NCD targets, with the overarching goal of reducing premature NCD mortality by 25% by 2025.

The Healthy India Alliance (HIA) organised the ‘Second National Civil Society Consultation on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in India’ from July 11-12, 2017 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhin under the guidance of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (MoHFW, GoI) and the WHO Country Office for India. The aim was to convene multi-sectoral stakeholders from various GoI ministries, UN partners and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), to discuss and deliberate on India’s national NCD response, with a specific focus on strategies and opportunities to strengthen the engagement of both health and non-health CSOs, as envisaged in the National Multisectoral Action Plan.  India Civil Society Status Report developed by the Healthy India Alliance was released in the consultation. The report highlights the policy successes, challenges and gaps. It also presents a roadmap for advancing government and civil society efforts on the prevention and control of NCDs in India

The theme of the consultation was Meaningful involvement of People living with NCDs. The consultation aimed to develop an understanding of a ‘Whole-of-Society’ approach for comprehensive NCD prevention and control; Build synergistic approaches for CSOs, PLWNCDs and youth to work in tandem towards identified priorities; and, expand CSOs’ understanding of reframing the NCD agenda to address air pollution and mental health.

Prioritising treatment, care and support for people living with NCDs within the National Universal Health Coverage context, through strategic multi-stakeholder engagement.

The Consultation was organised on February 15, 2021 and marked the release of A micro-documentary of people living with NCDs from India “Leaving no one behind-by-putting people first”.

Read More

The theme of the consultation was “Emerging lessons from COVID-19 on meaningful involvement of People living with NCDs”. The Fifth National Consultation yielded important recommendations for multi-stakeholder action around meaningful involvement of people with lived experience. Representatives from prestigious organisations like National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO) India, Jhpiego and All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi participated in the consultation. A total of 113 participants participated in the Consultation including HIA members.

Two multi-stakeholder Virtual Consultations were organised in Punjab and Maharashtra (one in each state) to provide a platform to People Living with NCDs and CSO partners to engage with policy makers and the medical fraternity, on (1) community action for health that was centered around access to quality healthcare services and treatment during COVID-19 and, (2) the digital divide in accessing telemedicine services during the pandemic. The Consultations provided a platform for open discussions between People Living with NCDs, Government representatives, CSOs, medical fraternity and academia. They tapped into challenges and opportunities in harnessing telemedicine services during COVID-19, access and provision of healthcare for NCDs and beyond, and the role of CSOs in enhancing meaningful involvement of People Living with NCDs. Both consultations had HIA representatives as well from the two states.