In a country where non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for a growing share of illness and death, the most powerful thing we can do is put knowledge and advocacy tools in the hands of young people.

That’s exactly what CDMA’s NCD Champions Program set out to do.

What Is the NCD Champions Program?

The NCD Champions Program is CDMA’s flagship youth capacity-building initiative — designed to train, certify, and activate young Nigerians as frontline advocates for chronic disease prevention and control.

Through a structured training curriculum covering the science of NCDs, community advocacy skills, health communication, and policy engagement, participants graduate as certified NCD Champions — equipped to carry the message of chronic disease prevention into their schools, communities, workplaces, and social networks.

The Numbers

130 young people trained and certified as NCD advocates. All of them participants in the #ActOnNCDs campaign — a digital and on-ground movement calling for urgent action on non-communicable diseases in Nigeria and across Africa.

But numbers only tell part of the story.

What Changes When a Young Person Becomes an Advocate

When a young person completes the NCD Champions Program, something shifts. They stop seeing chronic disease as something that happens to older people — and start seeing it as a public health crisis they have the power to address. They go home and talk to their parents about blood sugar. They share resources in their WhatsApp groups. They show up at community events and ask the right questions.

This is the multiplier effect of youth-led advocacy. One trained champion reaches dozens more.

Let’s Talk NCDs — Youth Meetup Series

Alongside the Champions Program, CDMA runs the Let’s Talk NCDs Youth Meetup Series — a more informal, conversation-driven space where young people engage with NCD issues in an accessible, peer-to-peer setting. To date, 70 young people have been engaged and empowered through this series.

In 2025, we partnered with Everest Solomon Classics to host an Adolescent Mental Health Symposium reaching 150 secondary school students — recognizing that mental health is inseparable from the broader NCD conversation.

Join the Movement

If you are a young person who cares about public health in Africa — or an organization that wants to partner on youth-focused NCD programming — we want to hear from you.

The NCD Champions Program is expanding. And Africa needs more champions.

Visit our Programs page or reach out at chronicdiseasemateforafrica@gmail.com to get involved.