Future Health Dialogue @ UNGA – A Path to Living Better: Building our Healthspan

​Bringing together leaders from government, multilateral organisations, academia and civil society, the discussion will showcase country experiences, with Abu Dhabi’s Healthy Living approach featured as a practical example of whole-of-government implementation. The event will also mark the release of the ‘Future of Healthy Living’, a white paper by Future Health – a Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi, capturing the emirate’s journey to embed prevention across policies, systems and everyday environments, and sharing practical lessons to support countries in advancing longer, healthier lives.

​People are living longer, but not necessarily better. Non-communicable diseases and mental health conditions now account for nearly two-thirds of the world’s combined death and disability. Many of these conditions are closely tied to lifestyle: poor diets, physical inactivity, tobacco and alcohol use, and the stresses of daily life all contribute to their rise, meaning much of this burden is, in principle, preventable. In high-income countries, ageing populations and rising chronic disease burdens are placing growing strain on health systems, while many low- and middle-income countries face a double challenge: building health systems that can prevent NCDs even as they continue tackling infectious disease with limited resources.

​At the same time, a growing evidence base supports lifestyle-focused prevention as a matter of policy and cross-institutional action, not individual responsibility alone. Achieving this will require a stronger focus on prevention and coordinated, multisectoral action to address the determinants of health. Population-level interventions, in food environments, physical activity infrastructure, and workplace and community health programmes, have consistently shown greater and more equitable impact on NCD risk than approaches relying on individual behaviour change, often at a fraction of the cost of treating disease once it takes hold. This complement, rather than substitutes for, the health system’s role in treatment.

​One year after UN Member States were presented the Political Declaration of the Fourth High-Level Meeting (HLM) of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-being, this session, convened by Future Health, a Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi, examines practical pathways to turn that commitment into practice.