Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for more than 90% of deaths in Europe, yet monitoring systems remain fragmented, underfunded and often blind to inequalities. This Lancet Regional Health – Europe policy paper, co-authored by experts from JACARDI, JA PreventNCD and WHO/Europe, reviews the current landscape of NCD monitoring using three complementary sources: the JACARDI context analysis, JA PreventNCD Country Fact Sheets and the WHO NCD Country Capacity Survey. It shows that while many countries collect mortality and hospital data, there are persistent gaps in risk-factor surveillance, linkage between data sources, and systematic collection of equity-related variables such as socioeconomic status, migration background or area-level deprivation.
The paper highlights opportunities linked to the European Health Data Space, data linkage, digital innovation and value-based health care, and calls for NCD monitoring to be treated as core health system infrastructure rather than a project-based add-on. It concludes with a concrete call to action around five areas: inclusive and disaggregated data collection; stronger governance and sustained investment; embedding monitoring in real-time policymaking; meaningful participation of civil society and people with lived experience; and enhanced multisectoral collaboration, knowledge exchange and capacity-building.
Read the full article in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(25)00345-X/fulltext