Adolescents have largely been overlooked in global discussions on NCDs to date but there is evidence that specific interventions are effective, says a new report by the NCD Alliance and partners.

Titled Noncommunicable disease prevention and adolescents, the report notes some of these interventions:

• Improving nutrition, including through maternal micronutrient supplementation, breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding;
• Vaccination for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) among adolescent girls (aged 9-13 years) to prevent cervical cancer, particularly in contexts where screening is limited
• Universal Hepatitis B vaccination to prevent cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Preventing NCDs among adolescents may yield a triple dividend of benefits: for adolescents today, for their future adult lives, and for the next generation.

Nearly 35% of the global burden of disease has its origins in adolescence, adds the report, and more than 3,000 adolescents die every day, mostly from NCDs, intentional and unintentional injuries and other preventable causes. Yet preventing NCDs among adolescents may yield a triple dividend of benefits: for adolescents today, for their future adult lives, and for the next generation.

The report points out that this year’s UN Third High-level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs presents a critical opportunity for national governments to commit to investment in adolescents.

Download the report [1].