Different contexts, common aspirations: putting young people at the heart of NCD prevention

International Youth Day 2026 is being observed under the theme “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations”. It recognises that young people grow up in very different social, economic and geographical circumstances, while sharing many of the same aspirations – including the opportunity to live healthy lives and have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their future.

This is particularly relevant to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Young people’s opportunities to eat well, be physically active, avoid harmful products and access reliable health information are shaped by their families, communities, schools, economic circumstances and the wider environments around them.

Achieving good health therefore requires more than asking individuals to make healthy choices. It means creating environments where healthier choices are accessible, affordable and realistic for all young people.

The recently published EU Safe Hearts Plan places prevention at the centre of Europe’s response to cardiovascular diseases and promotes a life-course approach, recognising that cardiovascular health is shaped long before disease develops.

Importantly, the Plan also recognises the experience of the JA PreventNCD Youth Advisory Group as a blueprint for integrating young people’s perspectives into NCD prevention, including at national level.

Established in 2025, the Youth Advisory Group brings youth perspectives into different areas of JA PreventNCD and contributes to the project’s Youth Chapter on NCD Prevention. Through this work, JA PreventNCD seeks to ensure that young people are not only considered as a target group for prevention, but also have opportunities to contribute to how prevention approaches are developed.

Young people experience the determinants of health in their everyday lives. Their health is influenced by factors such as food and alcohol marketing, tobacco and nicotine products, social media, and unequal access to safe public spaces, healthy food, physical activity and reliable information.

These influences vary both between and within countries. Listening to young people can help policymakers and public health professionals better understand how prevention policies are experienced in practice and where approaches may need to become more relevant and inclusive.

Meaningful participation also means involving young people early enough to contribute to priorities, design and implementation – not only asking for their views once decisions have already been made.

The Safe Hearts Plan provides an opportunity to strengthen this approach. Its implementation will require collaboration between governments, health professionals, researchers, civil society, communities and citizens, with young people having an important place in that collaboration.

International Youth Day reminds us that young people are not a single, uniform group. Their circumstances and experiences differ, but the aspiration is shared: a fair opportunity to live a healthy life and a genuine voice in shaping the decisions that affect their future.