From 2019-2021, the Gulf Health Council (GHC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Inter-agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NCDs (UNIATF), and the World Health Organization (WHO) worked with Ministries of Health (MOH) to develop a non-communicable disease (NCD) investment case in the each of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The investment cases examined both the health and economic burden of NCDs, as well as the benefits and returns on investment for implementing four packages of WHO-recommended interventions including the ‘best buys’, or highly cost-effective interventions.  

This report summarizes findings from the investment cases and – through interviews with the six ministries of health – identifies priority actions to further reduce the health and economic impact of NCDs across the GCC countries. Key findings include:   

• Four major NCDs alone cause nearly 40,000 deaths across the region every year, accounting for over 43 percent of all deaths, with many people dying before the age of 70. Cardiovascular disease accounts for nearly 30,000 of these deaths.  
• Economic costs due to NCDs amount to US$ 50 billion each year, equivalent to 3.3 percent on average of GCC countries’ 2019 GDP. Of this, 60 percent or US$ 30 billion are direct medical costs, while productivity losses amount to US$ 20 billion. 
• Implementing a set of WHO-recommended best-buy and other highly cost-effective interventions would cost US$ 14 billion over 15 years, equivalent to an average increase of 1.4 percent in total health expenditure, or US$ 16 per capita per year.  
• Fully implementing these interventions would avert 290,000 premature deaths over 15 years and result in US$ 49 billion in labour productivity gains. GCC countries would receive nearly US$ 5 over 15 years for every US$ 1 invested now. 
• Recommendations include increasing coordination and engagement with non-health sectors, advancing legislative action on NCDs, and increasing regional collaboration and exchange.