Analysing the policy and governance environment for NCD control, and identifying potential policy options. The Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have emerged as the most important global threat to human health and wellbeing. Four major NCDs - heart disease, cancers, diabetes, respiratory diseases - cause the deaths of 38 million people every year, of whom 16 million die prematurely (under the age of 70 years). These diseases cause chronic illness and disability and are a source of suffering and financial hardship for individuals, families, communities and health systems struggling to provide continuous care for people with long-term health problems. The NCDs affect populations across the globe - and they are now the leading cause of death in many low and middle income countries.   Many of these diseases are driven by exposure to commercial products - tobacco, alcohol, highly processed foods (including the so-called 'junk foods') which have high levels of salt, sugar and/or trans-fats. Evidence shows that limiting exposure to these products is likely to bring health benefits, but it is often very difficult for individuals to sustain 'healthy behaviours' over their lifetime. Evidence-informed prevention strategies most likely to bring benefit to the largest numbers of people include: regulating exposure, e.g. taxation on products known to be health-reducing, such as sugary drinks; restricting access, e.g. no sales of tobacco to children, non-smoking zones in public spaces; or reformulating products to make them less likely to cause harm, e.g. lowering the salt content of processed foods. Such strategies, when implemented well, can have a significant impact on improving population health.   However, Governments face many challenges in implementing these policies - for example, there may be resistance from strong and powerful commercial companies that have a vested interest in selling their products. Moreover, in many countries, there is little policy experience in tackling the NCDs.   In this project we propose to undertake detailed policy analyses to identify acceptable and feasible options for Governments in both low- and middle-income countries to tackle the growing burden of NCDs in their countries. Our work will focus on three policy areas - control of sugar, salt and trans-fats in processed foods. We will work with researchers in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Tunisia and Vietnam to identify how the Government in each country is currently tackling NCDs. We will then map out the influences on policy options operating in each country. Such influences are likely to include the role of powerful stakeholders such as the food producing and selling industries, the media, the medical establishment, the Ministry of trade, etc. We will also identify whether any civil society groups (in some countries this might mean, for example, groups of parents concerned about junk-food marketing to children; in other countries it will include groups of patients suffering from diet-related NCDs such as diabetes) are working on policy issues. We will conduct interviews with key stakeholders to better understand the opportunities for seeing effective policy implemented for controlling sugar, salt and/or trans-fats, as well as identifying the challenges and barriers to putting effective policy options into operation.   This kind of health analysis requires a specific skill set which is not common in many countries. As part of our project we will therefore establish and strengthen the capacity of a network of researchers from all 8 countries (including the UK), who will support each other to carry out the analyses and interpret the findings. We will foster cross-learning of policy successes between different countries. In addition, we will promote engagement and dialogue with a wide variety of stakeholders in each country throughout the lifetime of the project in order to ensure that the findings of the research carry meaning and weight in policy decisions to improve population health both in the 7 research countries and beyond. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.