Edited by
Melitta Jakab, Jill Farrington
Liesbeth Borgermans, Frederiek Mantingh

2018

It gives me great pleasure to present this new report by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Health systems respond to noncommunicable diseases: time for ambition. The burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) represents one of the major health challenges of our times. These diseases result from fundamental inequities in social and economic determinants of health, in access to timely, high-quality services, in health information, in living environments and in other social factors. In turn, they also act as drivers of disadvantage, leading to intergenerational ill-health and cycles of poverty.