The Lancet NCD Action Group and the NCD Alliance1 highlight links between non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and some vulnerable groups such as children, young people, women, people with disabilities, and people living in poverty. They acknowledge that “policies, strategies, plans, and calls to action are common in international and national reports” but also note that their “implementation has been slow”. Although calls to action might well exist, the commitment to addressing such calls to the needs of vulnerable and marginalised groups remains largely untested. There is an urgent need to assess what health policies actually say, and commit to, in terms of social inclusion and human rights. Only then can we assess the practical value of calls to action, and establish whether any such action is, in fact, likely. If such calls and policies are inclusive of vulnerable groups and uphold core concepts of human rights, they are much more likely to contribute to the provision of equitable health care. The EquitAble consortium has developed a policy analysis framework—EquiFrame2,3—through consultation with more than 100 stakeholders across Sudan, Malawi, Namibia, and South Africa. This framework has been used to assess 49 country health policies in terms of their commitment to 12 vulnerable groups (figure). These findings indicate that much work needs to be done to make our health policies more inclusive. The Lancet initiative on NCDs presents the opportunity to address this challenge through the application of systematic policy analysis instruments that seek to assess social inclusion, such as EquiFrame. NCD policies, or calls to action, that omit mention of how the needs of vulnerable groups can be addressed will fall short of our aspiration of “health for all”.