ABSTRACT Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) remain the leading cause of death globally, with the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region (SEAR) facing a disproportionately high burden and risk of missing Sustainable Development Goal target 3.4.1. This article presents a comprehensive review of NCD surveillance and monitoring systems across the regional countries, aligned with the WHO Global Monitoring Framework. The analysis draws on WHO reports and surveys to assess three core areas of NCD surveillance and monitoring: national civil registration and vital statistics systems (CRVS) for mortality surveillance, conduct of population-based surveys for surveillance of NCD risk factors, and the capacity of the patient information systems to monitor programmatic and patient-level NCD outcomes. Findings reveal significant gaps in mortality surveillance, with only Thailand achieving full functionality in generating reliable cause-specific mortality data. Risk factor surveillance shows moderate progress, with Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka fully achieving the indicator for adult surveys, whereas adolescent-focused surveillance remains limited. Cancer registries are unevenly distributed, with only Bhutan meeting the gold standard of national population-based registries. Patient-level data systems are present in most countries but vary in coverage, digitization, and interoperability. Thailand is the only country with fully electronic systems across all care levels. The SEAHEARTS initiative has catalyzed digital tracking of hypertension and diabetes, yet operationalization remains inconsistent. Strengthening CRVS systems, institutionalizing periodic surveys, expanding cancer registries, and investing in interoperable digital health systems are recommended to enhance NCD surveillance and monitoring in the WHO SE Asia region. These efforts are critical to inform policy, improve service delivery, and accelerate progress toward global NCD targets.
Nalika et al. (Thu,) studied this question.