The ‘implementation gap’ between national plans
and successful implementation is a central theme in
addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It is a
factor that has undermined Sustainable Development
Goal 3.4, which aims to achieve a one-third reduction
in premature mortality from four major NCDs by 2030.
Responding to the potential of implementation research
to support low-income and middle-income countries to
effectively advance their strategies, we describe ways to
make NCD plans more robust by including implementation
steps. These steps are (1) choosing some (but not
all) effective and cost-effective options; (2) tailoring
interventions and their scale-up to national capacity; and
(3) making the priorities implementable. We illustrate with
examples from several countries.
