2025/03/24 WHO Unveils Updated “Best Buys” to Combat Noncommunicable Diseases Worldwide

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released the second edition of Tackling NCDs: Best Buys and Other Recommended Interventions, providing an updated and comprehensive roadmap for countries to address the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, account for nearly three-quarters of all deaths globally, with the majority occurring in low- and middle-income countries.
 
The report, endorsed by the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly, highlights 28 "best buy" interventions. These are not only highly cost-effective (costing less than I$100 per healthy life year gained in low-income and lower-middle-income settings) but also feasible across various resource environments. These measures target key modifiable risk factors — tobacco use, harmful alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity — and offer evidence-based solutions to mitigate their impacts.
 
Key recommendations include increasing taxes on tobacco and alcohol, enforcing bans on tobacco and alcohol advertising, reformulating foods to reduce unhealthy ingredients, promoting front-of-pack nutrition labelling, and implementing public awareness campaigns to encourage healthy behaviors. Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B also feature prominently as cost-effective tools for cancer prevention.
 
WHO emphasizes that while economic considerations are central, factors such as feasibility, scalability, sustainability, health equity, and ethical concerns are equally critical. The updated list was compiled through extensive consultations, technical reviews, and analysis using WHO’s cost-effectiveness methodology (WHO-CHOICE).
 
In addition to the best buys, the report provides 62 additional interventions, either with proven effectiveness or awaiting cost-effectiveness analysis. These interventions cover early detection and management strategies for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, and cancers, as well as enabling actions to strengthen health systems and surveillance.
 
With just six years remaining to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 3.4 target — reducing premature mortality from NCDs by one-third by 2030 — WHO calls on countries to act decisively. The report is supported by an interactive online tool and technical briefs designed to help countries tailor strategies to their local context.
 
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240091078