The Case for Investment in Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases in Kuwait

This report results from Kuwait’s engagement in 2017 with the United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases which provided recommended actions to implement United Nations Political Declaration on NCDs. Kuwait’s Ministry of Health made it a priority to conduct the NCD investment case presented here, which provides evidence that NCDs reduce economic output and that Kuwait would benefit from investing in four policy intervention packages that reduce exposure to behavioural risk factors (tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity). It also examines investments in key clinical interventions for the most prevalent NCDs – cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The findings show that addressing NCDs is a matter of urgency to ensure significant social and economic returns.