The Challenge: How do we tackle non-communicable diseases among young people?

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Non-communicable diseases have become the number one cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, killing more than 41 million people each year. While they disproportionately impact people living in vulnerable or compromised situations, they are an issue for people everywhere. Young people are most at risk, and they are also the point of great opportunity to change the trajectory of disease. Yet young people are seldom on the global health agenda. 70% of premature deaths from NCDs can be linked to behaviours and habits that form in adolescence, which has resulted in prevention becoming a critical tool to fight the burden of NCDs.

AstraZeneca's Young Health Programm invests in education, advocacy and research to address the primary risk factors that lead to NCDs in later life The challenge welcomed non-profit organisations looking for health promotion ideas and projects to reduce risk behaviours in young people.  

Loono is on a mission to save lives through prevention. For nine years, they have been raising the issue of health literacy and have been central to increasing the public debate about preventative care in the Czech Republic.

A team of young doctors, medical students and professionals, Loono targets three main groups: the public, medical students and legislators. Their prevention activities reach five million people a year, with attendance at their workshops reaching over 130,000 people. Furthermore, thanks to Loono's newly launched 'Preventivka' app, more than 13,000 people have attended previously neglected preventive screenings.

Providing expert opinion on national preventive guidelines, Loono also collaborates with professional medical societies, and the Ministry of Health by supplying tools to support preventative education. Supplying educational materials to hospitals and doctors' offices, Loono is central to highlighting prevention as a critical part of medical care in the Czech Republic.