In this age of globalized world when world can’t do without some properly functioning global order in view of the present situation (where ol
USA versus most world: Will human right to health and gender equality take primacy? By SHOBHA SHUKLA
It was shocking to see that United States of America (USA) took a position against most other nations and went ahead to “torpedo” the draft political declaration that was about to be adopted with consensus at the 80th United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health.
Due to USA’s position (against most other countries globally at the 80th UNGA High Level Meeting on NCDs), it is likely that the Political Declaration might go up for a vote in the first week of October this year.
I was there at UNGA High Level Meeting (UNHLM) on NCDs in 2018, UNHLM on TB in 2018, UNHLM on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in 2024, adoption of SDGs or Agenda 2030 at the UNGA 2015, and most recently, I was also the Lead Discussant for SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) at the 2025 United Nations intergovernmental High Level Political Forum at the UN headquarters. UNHLM on NCDs were also held at UNGAs in 2014, 2018 and 2023. After interventions by several countries, all countries had adopted political declarations (or other agreements) with consensus.
Debate is welcome, necessary and healthy but when it is not grounded on human rights or based on science- and evidence, then it becomes deeply worrying – because vast majority of the world are suffering due to the failing (and Global North heavy) multilateralism between Global North and Global South – and historical plunder of resources by the richer nations (and people) from rest of the world and humanity.
USA government leader Robert Kennedy Junior (often referred to for his anti-vaccination stance) said that he will not support “taxes on unhealthy products.” Raising taxes on unhealthy products like tobacco products has a strong body of scientific evidence to have saved lives. Raising taxes give more resources to the governments to advance public health as well as make unhealthy products out-of-reach for many. There are a battery of measures that must be clamped to protect our people from unhealthy products.
But USA is the home country to most of the major corporations that are profiteering from unhealthy and/or deadly products, such as tobacco products (for example, biggest tobacco company PMI), sugary and sweetened drinks (such as, Coca Cola and Pepsi), fast food industries (like McDonald’s, etc), and Big Oil! There is a proven deadly link between climate and health too.
Ahead of 30th UN Climate Conference (formally called 30th United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change or UNFCCC), 11th Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) [or COP11] and 4th Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products [or MOP4], we must up the growing call to governments to put people before profit, #MakeBigTobaccoPay and #KickPollutersOut.
Questions must be raised on USA to protect profiteering by its industries against public health.
Safe abortion and gender equality are human rights
Kennedy Junior further said that "More specifically, we cannot accept language that pushes destructive gender ideology." "Neither can we accept claims of a constitutional or international right to abortion" (source: Health Policy Watch).
When we read the draft political declaration of UNHLM on NCDs and mental health, firstly, it no where mentions "abortion" - although we would like to stress that safe abortion rights are among human rights.
Secondly, the declaration draft says that NCDs need to be mainstreamed into “sexual and reproductive health programmes.” "A single reference to gender calls for mainstreaming a gender perspective into NCD prevention and control – as a critical lens for understanding and addressing the health risks of women and men of all ages," says an article by Health Policy Watch.
We must unitedly stress that gender mainstreaming (and not just binary gender mainstreaming but in all gender diversities) is critical for all goals and targets of SDGs. "Gender equality and human right to health are fundamental human rights," had said Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Right to Health in one of the SHE & Rights sessions held this month.
NCDs are major killers, most of them preventable
Scientific evidence from rich and poor nations alike shows that over 70% of deaths are attributable to NCDs worldwide – even as most of the major NCDs are preventable, such as, cardiovascular diseases (heart diseases and stroke), cancers, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, among others. These diseases account for more than 43 million deaths every year - 18 million of which occur untimely.
There is a deadly connect between infectious diseases and NCDs too. For example, TB (deadliest infectious disease worldwide) and NCDs, or COVID-19 and NCDs.
Additionally, “mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, psychosis and self-harm, affect close to 1 billion people worldwide, and represent a leading cause of disability, and commonly co-occur and interact with other neurological conditions (including Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia), substance use and other noncommunicable conditions,” reads the draft UNHLM on NCDs political declaration.
This declaration further stresses that “main modifiable risk factors for NCDs are behavioural, environmental and metabolic, and largely preventable.”
Preventing diseases and untimely deaths must take primacy over trade
Tobacco use is a major common risk factor for NCDs. Over 8 million people die of tobacco use every year – year after year. Each of these untimely deaths and tobacco and nicotine-caused diseases could have been prevented by implementing the full package of lifesaving tobacco control policies enshrined in World Health Organization (WHO) MPOWER package as well as global tobacco treaty (WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or WHO FCTC).
Draft political declaration of UNHLM on NCDs also underlines that “NCDs and mental health conditions are a significant risk to economic growth and security, and human capital development, with acute illness and long-term poor health preventing people from fulfilling their potential, thereby compounding cycles of poverty and disadvantage.”
Most governments globally, except USA and the likes, wanted to commit to increase taxation on deadly tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages.
WHO calls upon governments to enact lifesaving policies to reduce tobacco use by:
(i) implementing graphic health warnings on all tobacco packages, accompanied by plain/standardised packaging;
(ii) eliminating tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and
(iii) comprehensively reducing exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces, public places, and public transport;
WHO also calls upon governments to restrict and regulate electronic nicotine delivery systems and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems, such as e-cigs or e-cigarettes or vaping etc. Tobacco use in any form is deadly and there is no “safe level of tobacco or alcohol use.”
USA has not even ratified the global tobacco treaty so far but 183 countries globally (including the European Union) have. All countries must ratify the first-ever WHO corporate accountability and public health treaty (WHO FCTC). We also must address key social and commercial determinants of NCDs and mental health.
(Shobha Shukla is a feminist, health and development justice advocate, and an award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service). She was also the Lead Discussant for SDG-3 at United Nations inter-governmental High Level Political Forum (HLPF 2025). She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College; current President of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media); Chairperson of Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA received AMR One Health Emerging Leaders and Outstanding Talents Award 2024); and coordinator of SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights). Follow her on Twitter/X @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
Due to USA’s position (against most other countries globally at the 80th UNGA High Level Meeting on NCDs), it is likely that the Political Declaration might go up for a vote in the first week of October this year.
I was there at UNGA High Level Meeting (UNHLM) on NCDs in 2018, UNHLM on TB in 2018, UNHLM on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in 2024, adoption of SDGs or Agenda 2030 at the UNGA 2015, and most recently, I was also the Lead Discussant for SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) at the 2025 United Nations intergovernmental High Level Political Forum at the UN headquarters. UNHLM on NCDs were also held at UNGAs in 2014, 2018 and 2023. After interventions by several countries, all countries had adopted political declarations (or other agreements) with consensus.
Debate is welcome, necessary and healthy but when it is not grounded on human rights or based on science- and evidence, then it becomes deeply worrying – because vast majority of the world are suffering due to the failing (and Global North heavy) multilateralism between Global North and Global South – and historical plunder of resources by the richer nations (and people) from rest of the world and humanity.
USA government leader Robert Kennedy Junior (often referred to for his anti-vaccination stance) said that he will not support “taxes on unhealthy products.” Raising taxes on unhealthy products like tobacco products has a strong body of scientific evidence to have saved lives. Raising taxes give more resources to the governments to advance public health as well as make unhealthy products out-of-reach for many. There are a battery of measures that must be clamped to protect our people from unhealthy products.
But USA is the home country to most of the major corporations that are profiteering from unhealthy and/or deadly products, such as tobacco products (for example, biggest tobacco company PMI), sugary and sweetened drinks (such as, Coca Cola and Pepsi), fast food industries (like McDonald’s, etc), and Big Oil! There is a proven deadly link between climate and health too.
Ahead of 30th UN Climate Conference (formally called 30th United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change or UNFCCC), 11th Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) [or COP11] and 4th Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products [or MOP4], we must up the growing call to governments to put people before profit, #MakeBigTobaccoPay and #KickPollutersOut.
Questions must be raised on USA to protect profiteering by its industries against public health.
Safe abortion and gender equality are human rights
Kennedy Junior further said that "More specifically, we cannot accept language that pushes destructive gender ideology." "Neither can we accept claims of a constitutional or international right to abortion" (source: Health Policy Watch).
When we read the draft political declaration of UNHLM on NCDs and mental health, firstly, it no where mentions "abortion" - although we would like to stress that safe abortion rights are among human rights.
Secondly, the declaration draft says that NCDs need to be mainstreamed into “sexual and reproductive health programmes.” "A single reference to gender calls for mainstreaming a gender perspective into NCD prevention and control – as a critical lens for understanding and addressing the health risks of women and men of all ages," says an article by Health Policy Watch.
We must unitedly stress that gender mainstreaming (and not just binary gender mainstreaming but in all gender diversities) is critical for all goals and targets of SDGs. "Gender equality and human right to health are fundamental human rights," had said Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Right to Health in one of the SHE & Rights sessions held this month.
NCDs are major killers, most of them preventable
Scientific evidence from rich and poor nations alike shows that over 70% of deaths are attributable to NCDs worldwide – even as most of the major NCDs are preventable, such as, cardiovascular diseases (heart diseases and stroke), cancers, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, among others. These diseases account for more than 43 million deaths every year - 18 million of which occur untimely.
There is a deadly connect between infectious diseases and NCDs too. For example, TB (deadliest infectious disease worldwide) and NCDs, or COVID-19 and NCDs.
Additionally, “mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, psychosis and self-harm, affect close to 1 billion people worldwide, and represent a leading cause of disability, and commonly co-occur and interact with other neurological conditions (including Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia), substance use and other noncommunicable conditions,” reads the draft UNHLM on NCDs political declaration.
This declaration further stresses that “main modifiable risk factors for NCDs are behavioural, environmental and metabolic, and largely preventable.”
Preventing diseases and untimely deaths must take primacy over trade
Tobacco use is a major common risk factor for NCDs. Over 8 million people die of tobacco use every year – year after year. Each of these untimely deaths and tobacco and nicotine-caused diseases could have been prevented by implementing the full package of lifesaving tobacco control policies enshrined in World Health Organization (WHO) MPOWER package as well as global tobacco treaty (WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or WHO FCTC).
Draft political declaration of UNHLM on NCDs also underlines that “NCDs and mental health conditions are a significant risk to economic growth and security, and human capital development, with acute illness and long-term poor health preventing people from fulfilling their potential, thereby compounding cycles of poverty and disadvantage.”
Most governments globally, except USA and the likes, wanted to commit to increase taxation on deadly tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages.
WHO calls upon governments to enact lifesaving policies to reduce tobacco use by:
(i) implementing graphic health warnings on all tobacco packages, accompanied by plain/standardised packaging;
(ii) eliminating tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and
(iii) comprehensively reducing exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces, public places, and public transport;
WHO also calls upon governments to restrict and regulate electronic nicotine delivery systems and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems, such as e-cigs or e-cigarettes or vaping etc. Tobacco use in any form is deadly and there is no “safe level of tobacco or alcohol use.”
USA has not even ratified the global tobacco treaty so far but 183 countries globally (including the European Union) have. All countries must ratify the first-ever WHO corporate accountability and public health treaty (WHO FCTC). We also must address key social and commercial determinants of NCDs and mental health.
(Shobha Shukla is a feminist, health and development justice advocate, and an award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service). She was also the Lead Discussant for SDG-3 at United Nations inter-governmental High Level Political Forum (HLPF 2025). She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College; current President of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media); Chairperson of Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA received AMR One Health Emerging Leaders and Outstanding Talents Award 2024); and coordinator of SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights). Follow her on Twitter/X @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
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