PHSSR Policy Roadmaps for Acting Early on NCDs Synthesis Report 2025

120 Acting early on NCDs The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and ResilienceAppendix: Research framework Overview This synthesis report draws from eight country reports examining health system capacity to act early on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Poland, and Spain. Each country report was developed using a structured research framework created by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) through literature review of existing global frameworks and evidence, and validation by an expert panel of clinicians, policy experts, and patient advocates. The framework provided systematic guidance for assessing national performance across seven health system domains whilst maintaining flexibility for adaptation to different country contexts. Methodology Country research teams followed a common methodological approach: Desk review of publicly available evidence on early NCD interventions, guided by framework indicators and questions Stakeholder survey gathering opinions from key opinion leaders across disciplines on barriers to and opportunities for early intervention Roundtable discussions with minimum 15 participants per country, including experts from public and private institutions, to identify challenges and explore policy solutions Integration of survey and roundtable outputs into evidence-based country reports with specific policy recommendations Framework structure The research framework organised assessment across seven domains aligned with the Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience (PHSSR) research framework: Domain 1: Population health This domain examined the epidemiological foundation for early intervention, analysing: Burden of disease : Current NCD mortality and morbidity patterns, multimorbidity prevalence, stage at diagnosis, survival rates, and health inequalities across socioeconomic groups Behavioural risk factors : Prevalence and distribution of tobacco use, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, obesity, dietary patterns, and their social determinants Environmental impact on NCDs : Air pollution effects, climate change impacts on NCD burden, heat- related mortality, and environmental health disparities Primary prevention : National policies for NCD prevention including sin taxes, advertising restrictions, health literacy programmes, lifestyle interventions, and NCD-related vaccination programmes (HPV, hepatitis B)