30 OCTOBER 2025 – COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

Organization Name: Global Self-Care Federation (GSCF)

Agenda Item: Progress reports – Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases in the WHO European Region 2016–2025 (EUR/RC66/R11)

The Global Self-Care Federation and the Association of the European Self-Care Industry welcome progress on the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases in the WHO European Region 2016–2025. We share its call for accelerated and innovative action to reduction of premature mortality and disease burden from NCDs, increased evidence-based multisectoral interventions, and the alignment with global commitments.

Evidence-based self-care interventions—including responsible use of non-prescription medicines, health technologies, lifestyle practices, and preventive actions—enable people to prevent and manage conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory illness, cancer, oral health conditions, and mental health challenges. Access at the community level to self-care products reduces the need for hospital or doctor visits, which can be time-consuming and expensive for both individuals and health systems. These everyday actions complement formal healthcare services and extend care beyond clinical settings while contributing to the reduction of key NCD risk factors, including tobacco use.

Evidence demonstrates that self-care, including the responsible use of non-prescription medicines, delivers substantial cost and time savings.

In Europe and Central Asia alone, it is already generating $46.3 billion in annual savings, while saving 4 billion hours for individuals and 0.7 billion hours for physicians. With broader adoption, these benefits could scale to $65.9 billion in savings and 16.1 billion days gained in productivity yearly.

These benefits can support efforts to expand NCD services, reduce workforce pressure, improve medicine access, and advance prevention strategies. To unlock the full potential of self-care, we urge stakeholders to:

• Invest in self-care infrastructure: access to products, digital tools, and education;
• Integrate self-care into national NCD and PHC strategies;
• Reform financing models to include and incentivize self-care;
• Strengthen workforce planning to align clinical expertise with complex care, while supporting self-management.

Self-care is a cost-effective, scalable solution to help deliver on the Framework’s vision for resilient, person-centered health systems in Europe.