The NCD Alliance is a formal alliance of the International Diabetes Federation, The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Union for International Cancer Control and the World Heart Federation established on 19 May 2009 “representing the four main NCDs outlined in the World Health Organization’s 2008-2013 Action Plan for NCDs – cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease”. According to Iona Heath, President, Royal College of General Practitioners, [1] on 6 July 2011, the NCD Alliance “claims credit for the campaign that has resulted in the United Nations high level summit on non-communicable diseases that will take place in New York on 19-20 September”. The Executive Director of the NCD Alliance is Téa Collins and the Chair of the NCD Alliance Steering Group is Ann Keeling, CEO of the International Diabetes Federation.
As the NCD Alliance has spearheaded advocacy efforts to press governments to “recognize that NCDs are a global development priority requiring an urgent response”, a closer look into the NCD Alliance’s funding may shed light on its messaging regarding innovation and access in light of the recent efforts by the European Union and the United States to purge the political declaration of the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases.
According to its website, “Strategic Supporters” of the NCD Alliance include: Medtronic Foundation, Merck, Pfizer and Sanofi-aventis. The “supporters” the Alliance include : Abbott Fund, Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson, Novo Nordisk, Roche Diagnostics, Takeda Pharmaceuticals International and World Diabetes Foundation. In the words of the NCD Alliance, the “Supporters Group consists of companies and foundations who contribute towards the efforts of the NCD Alliance through a combination of expertise, in-kind support and funding”.
[1] BMJ 2011; 343:d4239 doi: 10.1136/bmj.d4239