Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) kill an estimated 41 million people each year, accounting for 74% of all deaths, with close to 80% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In 2024, Results for Development (R4D), in collaboration with a new technical partnership between Access Accelerated and the World Bank, is managing a demand-driven innovation platform to enhance health financing for NCDs and accelerate progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 3 in LMICs.
The Challenge
Noncommunicable diseases — such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, mental illness, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes — kill an estimated 41 million people each year, accounting for 74% of all deaths and three-quarters of years lived with disability worldwide, and 77% of these deaths occur in LMICs. If not addressed, NCDs will cost the world an estimated US$47 trillion between 2011 and 2030. The Lancet’s NCD Countdown 2030 has identified a package of 21 interventions that would prevent 39 million deaths between 2023 and 2030 at a cost of US$140 billion. Although this cost is enormous — accounting for a median 20% of national health budgets — the return on investment is 19:1.
To effectively address the burden of NCDs, it is essential for LMICs to integrate a comprehensive NCD response into their national universal health coverage (UHC) strategies. This will involve codifying and optimizing health system resources through innovative and context-specific health financing mechanisms. The challenge lies in ensuring that these systems are adequately financed and strategically aligned to meet the specific and increasing demands of NCD prevention and care.
The Opportunity
Access Accelerated and the World Bank have forged a strong partnership since 2017 with a common goal: to support LMICs and underserved communities with financial and technical assistance to expand access to quality, affordable NCD care through UHC. In 2024, the partnership entered a new phase, informed by a comprehensive landscaping study conducted in 2023 by R4D, which assessed the needs of countries and stakeholders, including World Bank operational teams. The study identified inadequate and suboptimal health financing as the most significant barrier to reducing the burden of NCDs and improving access to NCD care in LMICs.
This phase aims to address this critical issue by fostering innovation and cross-country learning opportunities to strengthen NCD financing through UHC and primary healthcare (PHC) strategies. Building on its history of providing agile and catalytic seed funding for NCD prevention and treatment, the new technical partnership will focus on supporting on-the-ground implementers in testing innovative NCD financing strategies. It will also provide tailored, localized technical assistance, and facilitate cross-country knowledge exchange.
This initiative will be conducted through The Financing Accelerator Network for NCDs (FAN) a global platform under the Access Accelerated-World Bank new technical partnership, in close cooperation with R4D. Positioned across the Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific regions, FAN collaborates with governments and local stakeholders in LMICs to build sustainable health financing systems, enhance their response to NCDs, and codify impact on the ground. The network operates through regionally hosted, demand-driven NCD Financing Accelerators, focusing on three interconnected pillars of action including:
- Regional expertise, data, and on-demand technical support
- Cross-country learning
- Catalytic seed funding for NCD financing programs
The Africa Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) has been appointed the primary regional institution for the NCD Financing Accelerator in Sub-Saharan Africa. AFIDEP will spearhead regional NCD financing activities, identify local innovations and programs, facilitate cross-country knowledge exchange, undertake research and policy analysis, and provide essential technical and analytical expertise to governments, civil society organizations, and health system stakeholders.
R4D’s Work
R4D assumes a key role as the Network Manager by fostering collaboration with regional experts and partners across the network. Key responsibilities include supporting the selection and onboarding of NCD Financing Accelerators and providing coaching and resources to enhance their capacities to facilitate collaborative learning activities and deliver on-demand technical assistance to countries in their region. Additionally, R4D spearheads demand scoping and program design, knowledge management, measurement, evaluation, learning, and reporting.
