BACKGROUND :

The first-ever United Nations High-Level Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases in September 2011 highlighted the importance of prioritizing attention on NCDs for women’s health and development. Although significant progress has been made globally in improving the direct obstetric causes of maternal mortality to reduce maternal mortality since the 1990s, the current “obstetric transition” has resulted in an increasingly greater proportion of maternal deaths due to indirect causes such as non-communicable diseases. Maternal and newborn health (MNH) programs have focused on improving access to health services for obstetric complications and intrapartum care, with less attention focused on the more complex indirect causes of maternal and newborn deaths, such as NCD risk factors. A side meeting at PMAC 2019 is proposed to facilitate discussion among stakeholders to foster a coalition for a more comprehensive approach to improve the burden of NCDs on maternal and newborn health outcomes.