UN General Assembly adopts political declaration on noncommunicable diseases and mental health
The UN General Assembly adopted the political declaration of its fourth high-level meeting on noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being on 15 December 2025. The declaration sets 2030 targets, including 150 million more people with access to mental health care.
What happened
The high-level meeting was held in New York on 25 September 2025. The political declaration, titled "Equity and integration: transforming lives and livelihoods through leadership and action on noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being", was not adopted at the meeting itself; it was forwarded to the General Assembly, which adopted it on 15 December 2025.
According to WHO, the declaration sets three headline targets for 2030: 150 million fewer tobacco users, 150 million more people with hypertension under control, and 150 million more people with access to mental health care.
WHO described the text as the result of five months of negotiation among heads of state, government officials and health ministers. The General Assembly adopted it by recorded vote; Health Policy Watch reported that 175 member states voted in favour, the United States and Argentina voted against, and Paraguay abstained.
Ahead of the meeting, WHO published its World mental health today and Mental Health Atlas 2024 reports, which set out the current gaps in mental health services, spending and workforce.
Why it matters
Political declarations of the General Assembly are not legally binding, but they set the priorities that governments and WHO report against. Placing mental health alongside noncommunicable diseases, with a numerical access target, gives national health planners and funders a common reference point for expanding services and the workforce needed to deliver them.
For practitioners, the declaration does not create new professional requirements. Its practical effect depends on how individual governments translate the access target into national plans. WHO’s Mental Health Atlas 2024 put the global median at 13 mental health workers per 100,000 people, which indicates the scale of workforce growth that wider access would require.
Sources
- World Health OrganizationPolitical declaration of the fourth high-level meeting of the General Assembly on NCDs and mental health
- World Health OrganizationWorld leaders show strong support for political declaration on noncommunicable diseases and mental health
- Health Policy WatchNear unanimous adoption of UN declaration on NCDs and mental health