Joining forces: how the private sector can support achieving global targets for non-communicable diseases
23 September 2025
Partnerships between the public and private sectors can strengthen health systems, drive innovation and deliver sustainable solutions to global health challenges.
On 25 September, the Fourth High-level Meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the promotion of mental health and wellbeing will bring together heads of state and other government leaders to review progress and commit to goals via a political declaration.
The meeting is taking place at a crucial time. In 2021, over 43 million people globally died due to NCDs such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases and cancer – a rise of almost 40% since the start of the millennium. And in 2019, almost 1 billion people were affected by mental health conditions. The financial burden of NCDs is also significant, and rising; between 2011 and 2030, they are predicted to cost the global economy USD $47 trillion. To effectively address the combined toll of NCDs and mental health conditions is no small feat, particularly due to their complexity. NCDs are not just a concern for the health sector; poverty and inequality – and related behavioural and environmental factors, including tobacco use and air pollution – are closely linked with increased risk of developing an NCD.
The complex drivers of the growing toll of NCDs require a whole-of-society, multi-sectoral approach that includes the private sector. While the importance of widespread collaboration and the involvement of the private sector is recognised in the draft of the UN meeting’s political declaration, the document does not suggest how to deliver these partnerships.
The complex drivers of the growing toll of NCDs require a whole-of-society, multi-sectoral approach that includes the private sector.
The evidence base for collaboration between the public and private sectors – such as public–private partnerships – is growing, and it should be leveraged to ensure that these cooperative efforts meet governments’ goals and commitments to prevent and control NCDs.
The case for collaboration
If implemented effectively, collaboration between the public and private sectors could represent a key opportunity to address the growing impact of NCDs. Such initiatives could help bridge gaps in financing, innovation and service delivery by bringing together a valuable combination of resources and skillsets. The UN declaration calls for wider exploration of ‘voluntary innovative financing mechanisms and partnerships’ with the private sector to enable collaboration and yield sustainable resources to tackle NCDs. The economic and social toll they place on our societies is huge – and these partnerships could yield tangible, long-lasting change.
Where can partnership initiatives offer maximum impact?
Initiatives where the public and private sectors work together can take many forms. Some of these partnerships support health systems in tackling major NCD challenges, including under-resourced primary care services and inadequate public health infrastructure. These strategic ventures include direct contracts between private and public entities for infrastructure, service delivery or public health programmes. They may also include large-scale international organisations, which may act as platforms to unite governments, industry and non-governmental organisations to catalyse transformative collaboration.
At the national level, initiatives often address specific components of the health system to increase accessibility or efficiency. For example, in Malaysia, the mQuit Service was established to provide smoking cessation support in public clinics and hospitals. Together, Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Akademi Farmasi Malaysia and Johnson & Johnson developed a structured approach to help people stop smoking. Within two years of the programme’s inception, it had registered more than 10,000 individuals. And in Denmark, government health authorities and a consortium of private partners – including MedCom and IBM – developed an eHealth portal to: enable access to electronic patient records across hospitals and general practices; facilitate communication between patients and healthcare professionals; and provide patient access to health information. The project led to increased integration and improved system-wide communication. The adoption of similar innovations could improve care delivery for NCDs and mental health conditions.
Essential elements of effective partnerships
Partnerships that involve the public and private sectors have the potential to bring widespread benefits. However, as with any large-scale public investment, they also carry risks; these may include a lack of transparency (which can lead to undue influence and potential conflicts of interest, taking a greater toll on public finances than anticipated), and failure to deliver on their stated objectives.
For partnerships between the public and private sectors to be effective, they should be integrated into national health financing, procurement, risk management and organisational frameworks. Standards for transparency and accountability should be established from the outset, along with clear alignment with both national and global public health objectives. Central to the success of these initiatives is choosing projects that would benefit most from a partnership with the private sector, as well as understanding where investment is needed and identifying key stakeholders. These initiatives must also define the roles of the government, the private sector and other stakeholders, providing clarity on where decision-making responsibilities lie and producing at-scale solutions to enable the long-term sustainability of health systems.
For these partnerships to be effective, they should be integrated into national health financing, procurement, risk management and organisational frameworks.
Ensuring that the service is equitable, accessible and inclusive to all service users, regardless of socioeconomic position or geographic location, is also essential. And finally, projects should be monitored so that they meet their objectives and demonstrate cost-effectiveness – potentially by tying remuneration to impact and outcomes. Otherwise, there is potential for poor outcomes, mismanagement or conflicts of interest. Such monitoring may be especially challenging in low- and middle-income settings, where resources may be limited and governance mechanisms may lack capacity.
Partnerships as a tool to meet global NCD targets
The UN’s draft political declaration identifies the private sector as a key stakeholder in the implementation of national responses on NCDs and mental health, to ensure sustained resource for action. And it asks the private sector to commit to play its part in the prevention and control of NCDs and mental health illnesses. Nevertheless, several international non-governmental organisations have expressed concerns: that it lacks clarity and enforceable safeguards to ensure alignment between public policy objectives and private-sector interests; and that this lack of clarity raises the risk of undue influence or interference, which could compromise public service decisions and fail to prioritise the broader public interest.
To address these concerns and ensure productive partnerships, the declaration should emphasise the importance of governments leading these collaborations in a way that ensures transparency and accountability. They must be driven by clearly outlined and agreed objectives that promote sustained, cost-effective improvements for service users, support mental health and wellbeing, and advance the global goal of reducing premature mortality from NCDs by one third by 2030. Guidance on how to make these partnerships work in different contexts will be essential to supporting the implementation of the declaration.
The declaration is a valuable opportunity to showcase the potential and promise of engaging the private sector to improve NCD prevention and control – and it is an opportunity that must not be squandered.