Our colleague, Peter Kolarčik invited to a Stakeholder Hearing to be held on 12-13 June, 2017 in WHO Headquarters, Geneva by WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases, during the second meeting of the WHO GCM/NCD Working Group on health literacy for NCDs.

The WHO GCM/NCD was established by the WHO Director-General in September 2014 to enhance the coordination of activities, multi-stakeholder engagement and action across sectors in order to contribute to the implementation of the WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013–2020. It is led by Member States and other participants include United Nations organizations and non-State actors such as non-governmental organizations, philanthropies, business associations and academic institutions. More information and further details here.

The WHO GCM/NCD Working Group on health education and health literacy for NCDs (WG 3.3, 2016-2017) was formed in response to Action 3.3 of the GCM/NCD work plan 2016-17. The WG is tasked to provide a report to the WHO Director-General before the end of 2017 with recommendation on ways and means of encouraging Member States and non-State actors to promote health education and health literacy for NCDs, with a particular focus on populations with low health awareness and/or literacy, and taking into account the cost-effective and affordable interventions for all Member States contained in Appendix 3 of the WHO global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs 2013–2020.

At its first meeting, on 27-28 February 2017, the Working Group (WG) resolved to hold a hearing with relevant stakeholders during its second meeting in Geneva. WG members agreed that they should invite stakeholders, from a wide constituency base, who are developing and working on concrete collaborative initiatives on health literacy that address the key questions being asked of the WG (additional details provided in the attached documents).

Evidence and best practices collected on how to address the challenges identified could then inform the WG’s deliberation and provide multistakeholder inputs and guidance in mapping out national context and content specific solutions and actions. The goal is to mobilize, share and inspire multistakeholder collaborative efforts and action on health literacy for NCDs that can effectively respond to one of the major developmental challenges of the 21st century.

During the Stakeholder hearing, there was five thematic sessions, where 4 stakeholders was invited for an informal dialogue with WG members. Stakeholders was able to participate in-person or via the WebEx platform, only during their selected thematic session.