The second Global NCD Alliance Forum will be the setting for two days of workshops and plenary sessions that examine the latest efforts to reduce the worldwide burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Held in Sharjah on December 9-11, 2017, under the theme ‘Stepping up the Pace for NCDs: Making 2018 count’, the forum aims to develop new strategies to prevent and curtail the lifestyle diseases that kill 40 million people each year - a figure equivalent to 70% of all deaths globally.

Hosted by the Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP), a non-profit organisation dedicated to fighting cancer and supporting patients and their families, and the NCD Alliance, the forum is being held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of the Ruler of Sharjah, Founder and Patron of FoCP, International Ambassador for the World Cancer Declaration of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and International Ambassador for Childhood Cancer for UICC.

Following on from the highly successful inaugural event, which took place in November 2015, the forum is being held with the aim of strengthening alliances and forging new partnerships. More than 300 medical experts, health care policy makers and NCD Alliance stakeholders and members of civil society will be convening at the event to assess and evaluate the current actions on minimising the prevalence of NCDs and to discuss new strategies that can be implemented to further their reduction.

"Each year,15 million people between the ages of 30 and 69 years die from a non-communicable disease, with cardiovascular diseases the forming the majority, followed by cancers, then respiratory diseases, then diabetes. These four groups account for over 80 percent of all premature NCD deaths. The second Global NCD Alliance Forum will assess the efficacy of existing detection, and screening of NCDs and examine ways we can improve on the current situation. The forum aims to result in the strengthening of existing alliances and the creation of new partnerships in the crucial fight against lifestyle diseases," said Dr. Sawsan Al Madhi, Director-General of FoCP.

"The second Global NCD Alliance Forum continues on from the extremely successful inaugural event in 2015, which was conceived in line with the vision of H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. This aims to see Sharjah at the forefront of initiatives to alleviating the impact of NCDs through three main pillars; establishing a hub in Sharjah to follow up on the forum’s outcomes; refocusing on NCDs in the Africa region and putting research as the cornerstone to establishing a more holistic approach to NCD advocacy," added Al Madhi