Call for proposals on prevention of NCDs - other NCDs (different from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes)

Background and policy context

NCDs are responsible for 87% of the disease burden in the Member States and improved health promotion and disease prevention can reduce the prevalence of NCDs by as much as 70%. The costs of treating NCDs are high and expected to grow further, also considering the Union’s aging population. COVID-19 has shown that NCDs can dramatically increase the negative impact of other diseases; the childhood obesity rate was included in the Commission’s strategic resilience dashboard; the economic case for prevention has been made by the OECD.

The Commission supports the Member States in their efforts to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases, and thus to reach the health targets of the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this context, the Commission is working on a new initiative, ‘Healthier Together – EU NCD Initiative’, which includes five action strands: cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, mental health and neurological disorders, and a horizontal strand on health determinants. In each of these strands, the reduction of health inequalities will be tackled.

Besides the actions to be taken forward in the context of this new initiative, stakeholders, including health professionals’ associations and civil society and patients’ organisations, have an important role in tackling NCDs, and in particular those NCDs other than cancer and that do not fall under the five strands mentioned above.

This action supports the policy objective of reducing the burden of NCDs and implements the EU4Health Programme’s general objective of improving and fostering health in the Union (Article 3, point (a)) through the specific objectives defined in Article 4, points (a) and (i), of Regulation (EU) 2021/522.

Objectives pursued

The aim of the action is to reduce the burden of NCDs targeting NCDs other than those in the five action strands of the ‘Healthier Together – EU NCD Initiative’ and cancer; for example, kidney diseases and liver diseases, auto-immune diseases, musculo-skeletal conditions etc., by increasing awareness, sharing knowledge and building capacity to improve public health, especially at local level.

Description of the activities to be funded under this topic

Activities to be funded will include the transfer of promising practices and approaches, which contribute to tackling the burden of NCDs other than cancer and those in the five action strands of the ‘Healthier Together’ initiative.

The civil society organisations (NGOs, professional and patient groups) will implement targeted projects and activities, complementing the Member States’ efforts in the design, planning and implementation of best practices, including support to the definition of public health guidelines and healthcare guidelines, to the preparation and roll out of new policy approaches, to the pilot testing of innovative practices, and support actions such as training and twinning, health communication or health literacy. Activities should also include an equity dimension and aim at reducing health inequalities.

Proposals should include evidence of effectiveness of practices and approaches, and preference will be given to those already tested on the ground with positive outcome. These practices and approaches can be targeted at one or more specific groups, such as different age groups, health care workers and different patient groups. Practice transfer is to be implemented through pilot projects, and in consultation with representatives from the community or target group concerned. Funded activities will also need to include a brief process evaluation of the implementation at the pilot sites, as well as a plan for further roll-out of practice implementation in the participating countries.

In parallel, NGOs and professional and patient groups will have the opportunity to engage in the implementation of complementary actions. Such engagement may include the provision of input for the preparation of public health guidelines, awareness actions, training, piloting or other actions that can benefit citizens directly.

Expected results and impact

The action will contribute to the implementation of projects on disease prevention and health promotion, which is expected to reduce the burden of NCDs other than the five action strands of the initiative ‘Healthier Together – EU NCD Initiative’ and cancer, for example, auto-immune diseases, musculo-skeletal conditions, etc.. The action is expected to result in increased awareness, knowledge sharing and capacity building, especially at local level, in Member States.

The expected results will include initiatives to complement the Member States’ efforts in the design, planning and implementation of best practices, such as support for the development of public health guidelines, support for the preparation and roll out of new policy approaches; participation in the pilot testing of innovative practices; development of support actions such as training and twinning, health communication or health literacy; and implementation of best practices in health promotion and disease prevention. The short-term impact will be an increased number of public health interventions being scaled up in all Member States and improvements in disease prevention and health promotion, and management policies related to NCDs.

It is expected that the piloting of the practices will contribute to efforts to reduce the burden from non-communicable diseases and have a positive impact at national and local levels in the participating Member States. In particular, it is expected the action will support stakeholders, especially those working at grassroots level, strengthening community-based knowledge sharing, awareness and capacity building.

The short-term impact would be achieved through 1. the piloting of an increased number of public health interventions, and 2. increasing awareness and building capacity. The long-term impact would be the identification of promising approaches with a potential for EU wide transfer. Networking between national and local actors will also help in building capacities for stakeholder involvement in developing public health actions.

Specific mandatory deliverables and/or milestones

The project(s) should pilot the transfer of promising practices and/or approaches, report on the results, deliver a brief process evaluation, and propose a plan for wider use in tackling NCDs other than cancer and those targeted in the ‘Healthier Together – EU NCD Initiative’; for example, kidney diseases and liver diseases, auto-immune diseases, musculo-skeletal conditions etc.

Specific action-level indicators for reporting purposes

Applicants must be prepared to include data on the following specific action-level indicators in their regular reporting activities in case of award:

Promising practices and/or approaches:

- Number of Member States implementing best practices developed under the funded action.

- Number of stakeholder organisations involved by type of organisation i.e. private sector, public sector, joint private-public organisation or company, not-for-profit sector, NGO private organization, NGO, and others.

- Number of individuals involved by age group i.e. 15-24; 25-49; 50-64; 65-79; 80 and more.

- Number of people reached (by target group).

Awareness:

- Dissemination material produced by type (e.g. n. of brochures, leaflets, web page).

Number of stakeholders outreached by awareness activities.

- Number of pilot projects concluded.

- Number of Member States integrating best practices developed under the funded action in their health and social systems.

The applicants are required to include in their proposals additional specific action-level indicators which will be agreed with the Commission during the grant agreement preparation.

The Commission may require the awardees to collect data for additional specific action-level indicators, where needed to complement the above indicators.