Caitlin Wald, Transition Lead at HelpAge International, delivered the following statement at the closing of the 4th High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases, held on 25 September 2025 at the United Nations.
HelpAge International and the HelpAge global network of 209 organisations in 99 countries together with all who are working with and for older people to enjoy healthy, dignified secure lives, welcome the progress represented in this political declaration.
Older people experience the greatest burden from NCDs, yet are often furthest behind in accessing prevention and care, facing barriers in the accessibility and affordability of services, and ageism in their funding, design, delivery and monitoring.
We therefore welcome the attention to older people in the Political Declaration and commitments to respond to their needs, including scaling-up action to promote healthy ageing, and strengthening health systems and social care policies to achieve UHC and support people’s needs across the life-course.
However, we express serious concern at the failure to commit to end the use of the discriminatory and entirely unjustified ‘premature mortality’ indicator in NCD monitoring frameworks, and to instead measure ‘preventable’ or ‘avoidable’ mortality at all ages.
As populations age, age caps within data systems exclude greater numbers of people, denying them their right to be counted, affecting our ability to understand and respond to their needs, and perpetuating ageism in health systems and financing.
They represent a systemic barrier to driving equitable progress on NCDs and achieving health for all, and must be urgently addressed.