Correspondence by James R. Downing and colleagues urged participants in the fourth high-level session of the UN General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the promotion of mental health and well-being in September 2025. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus and others emphasized the urgent need to improve the suffering and survival of the world's adolescent children and other people. The goal is to restore the focus on child and adolescent survival. The text focuses on NCDs in low- and middle-income countries. He is particularly concerned with the burden of childhood cancer and sickle cell disease. The Malawi Strategy addresses childhood non-communicable diseases.