BMJ Opinion: Bistra Zheleva: Children, patients, and the young at last have a voice at the U.N. meeting on NCDs
Bistra Zheleva, vice president of global strategy and advocacy at Children’s HeartLink and co-founding board member of the Global Alliance for Rheumatic and Congenital Hearts, discusses the recent U.N. High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), writing, “Sadly, there has been relatively little progress with NCDs despite the excitement at the U.N. holding the third high level meeting. Yet the greater presence of young people and patients, and the increased focus on children — albeit at side events rather than the main meeting — makes me optimistic that the agenda is shifting and the world will increase the energy it puts into countering NCD” (10/17).