PHSSR Policy Roadmaps for Acting Early on NCDs Synthesis Report 2025

103 Acting early on NCDs The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience■ Quantify and value environmental co-benefits across NCD care The environmental benefits of NCD interventions remain unquantified and therefore unvalued in resource allocation, despite evidence that many approaches reduce emissions while maintaining or improving outcomes. Countries should calculate emissions avoided through prevention programmes, access to guideline-based care, community-based care, and virtual consultations, incorporating these co-benefits into investment decisions. Success requires systematically pursuing co-benefits rather than managing assumed trade-offs. ■ Establish formal health-environment governance integration Effective action requires formal mechanisms linking health and environmental agencies beyond current fragmented approaches. This includes joint planning for health and climate strategies, shared accountability frameworks, and coordinated response protocols for climate-related health events. While some countries have created observatories or strategic plans linking health and environment, deeper operational integration is needed to move from policy frameworks to implementation. ■ Address environmental health inequities in adaptation planning Climate adaptation measures must explicitly address equity, as current approaches can disproportionately benefit populations with greater resources. Environmental health interventions, including air quality improvements and cooling infrastructure, should target vulnerable populations facing multiple disadvantages. Rural and remote communities often lack both formal adaptation plans and basic infrastructure despite facing particular climate vulnerabilities. Deliberate attention to benefit distribution is essential to prevent environmental health measures from widening existing health disparities.