Metrics for diplomats: is mortality from non-communicable diseases increasing or decreasing?

Negotiations are ongoing in New York to agree the latest UN political declaration on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health.1 With 5 years left to deliver the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, diplomats will be developing a roadmap to get the world as close as possible to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.4.1, which is to reduce premature mortality (between the ages of 30 and 70 years) from the four main NCDs—cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases—by one third by 2030 relative to 2015 levels, and to promote mental health and wellbeing.² The UN Secretary-General's report in January, 2025 to the General Assembly describes the scale of the challenge.³