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Life Course

The seventh call for applications under the GACD banner focused on implementation research to reduce the NCD burden by targeting critical life stages and key transitions between life stages.

Please note this call is now closed

Find out more about the projects funded through the Life Course call.

Seventh GACD Funding Call- A life course approach to common NCD risk factor prevention and reduction

Chronic NCDs, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases, respiratory diseases, certain cancers, and mental health disorders, are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in both LMICs and HICs. The COVID-19 pandemic brought NCDs further into the spotlight, as the majority of those who experienced severe illness and/or death had one or more underlying NCD. Reducing the burden of NCDs is therefore critical to building more resilient, equitable, and healthier societies.

The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges the importance of adopting a life course approach as a conceptual framework when exploring the physical and social hazards that may impact health. Adopting a life course approach to NCDs may minimise the impact of exposure to known risk factors at a particular life stage and increase the likelihood of good health across the lifespan, and potentially into the next generation. A number of behavioural change interventions, as well as those that increase the health-promoting potential of environments, are effective in reducing, delaying, or preventing NCD onset or disease progression. However, research is lacking in how to integrate such interventions into communities and health systems, and/or how to target these interventions to specific life stages, especially in LMICs and other disadvantaged populations.

Programme objectives

The long term goal was for the results of projects supported by this funding opportunity to provide healthcare providers and decision-makers with the scientific evidence to implement effective programs that would:

  • contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3.4 to reduce premature mortality from NCDs by one third by 2030;

  • reduce health inequities linked to socioeconomic status, sex and/or gender, race and/or ethnicity, age, and other social and structural factors at both the local and global levels;

  • improve quality of life across the life course and extend healthy life expectancy;

  • advance local, regional, or national preventive health policies addressing common risk factors for NCDs;

  • improve understanding of demographic and life stage variations in managing common NCD risk factors and for sustaining positive change;

  • establish the contextual effectiveness of reducing exposure to, or impact of, common NCD risk factors at different life stages, including at systems level;

  • provide evidence and recommendations to national programmes and policies;

  • inform health service providers, policy, and/or other decision makers on the effective adaptation and/or scaling up of interventions at local, regional, and national levels; and

  • improve local capacity for implementation research, data harmonisation, and stakeholder engagement for management and prevention of common NCD risk factors.

Call text

Download the common call text agreed by the members of the GACD.

Funding agencies

The following funding agencies took part in the Life Course call:

Outcomes

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