News and Features
International Conference Series on PEN-Plus in Africa to Debut in April
“PEN-Plus” was coined only five years ago, but already the integrated care-delivery model is receiving a spotlight on the global stage, with the launch of the first annual International Conference on PEN-Plus in Africa. An invitational conference hosted by the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa, ICPPA 2024 will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from April 23 to 25.
Integration Science Can Help Heal Global Health Inequities
Integration science can do more than deliver quality healthcare; it can also deliver global health equity solutions. That’s the central premise of “From Local Innovation to National Scale to Global Impact: Integration Science as an Engine of Change and an Agenda for Action,” the second annual symposium of the Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity.
Stronger Together: The Power of Patient Organizers in the Fight for Global Health Justice
“People living with chronic conditions have historically not been considered important decision-makers from a policy perspective,” said Dr. Apoorva Gomber, coauthor of an opinion piece recently published in PLOS Global Public Health.
Network Celebrates Launch of Voices for PEN-Plus
“We know what is best for us,” said Anu Gomanju, a person living with rheumatic heart disease in Nepal. “That’s why our needs and voices need to be prioritized.”
Gomanju made that statement in late September, during the online launch event for Voices for PEN-Plus. Sponsored by the NCDI Poverty Network, Voices for PEN-Plus brings together people living with severe, chronic, noncommunicable conditions to advocate for PEN-Plus implementation in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Building Solidarity for Severe, Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases: Team PEN-Plus Runs in Support
“I run in support of the millions of people worldwide who live with type 1 diabetes,” said Dr. Apoorva Gomber, associate advocacy director of the Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “I’ve run a marathon before and fundraised in the past. Still, this event was special because of the person who motivated my fundraising.”
Apoorva Gomber Delivers Impassioned Plea at UN Hearing
“Where a child lives should not determine whether a child lives,” declared Dr. Apoorva Gomber, associate advocacy director for the NCDI Poverty Network. “And yet children with type 1 diabetes in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa often die within a year of diagnosis. This reality is morally unconscionable.”
Photo Gallery: Network Gatherings in Tanzania
In addition to participating in the first International Conference on PEN-Plus in Africa, NCDI Poverty Network members took several occasions to gather, reflect, and renew their commitment to ensuring that lifesaving treatment reaches those who need it most.
Type 1 Diabetes Champion: Paladie’s Story
“Much of my outreach work is focused on diabetes education because it’s important to eradicate the many misunderstandings about the condition. When I get in front of people, the first thing I say is that I’m living with type 1 diabetes. My energy and enthusiasm silence the voices that said I would die. People who live with type 1 diabetes and other severe noncommunicable diseases are no different from anyone else.“
Finding My Purpose in Health Advocacy: Anu Gomanju’s Rheumatic Heart Disease Story
“Becoming a health advocate and sharing my experience with the world has answered the questions that have plagued me since I was diagnosed as a child: Why do I have rheumatic heart disease? Why do I have to depend on medicine? What is the purpose in my life? I have found my purpose in health advocacy.”
NCDI Poverty Network and PIH Host PEN-Plus Side Event at Africa Public Health Conference
The NCDI Poverty Network and Partners in Health hosted a side event titled “Caring for People Living with Severe Chronic NCDs: Practical Lessons Learned from Early PEN-Plus Initiatives” on 14 December at the 2nd International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA) in Kigali, Rwanda.
From Patient to Advocate: “Sickle Cell Warrior” Eunice Owino’s Story
“We’re called sickle cell warriors because we’re fighters. Even though we experience excruciating bouts of pain, we can overcome.”
Network Promote PEN-Plus at ISPAD Conference
A team that included NCDI Poverty Network Steering Committee Co-Chair Gene Bukhman as well as Type 1 Diabetes and Global Health Equity Research Fellows Celina Trujillo and Apoorva Gomber traveled to Abu Dhabi to represent the Network and promote PEN-Plus at the 48th annual International Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) Conference, 13-16 October.
PEN-Plus in Action Introduces a Global Partnership to Fight Severe, Chronic NCDs
More than 60 representatives of leading global health policy, technical, advocacy, and financing institutions and people living with NCDs gathered at UNICEF House in New York on September 15, 2022, to introduce the PEN-Plus Partnership, a major international initiative to address the global burden of severe NCDs and injuries that cause more than 500,000 avoidable deaths every year among children and young adults living in extreme poverty.
Voices of NCD Poverty Advocacy Fellow Leads Workshop on Understanding Global Burden of Sickle Cell Disease
More than 60 clinical experts, civil society members, people living with sickle cell disease (SCD), and NCD advocates from around the world came together on 25 August 2022 to discuss the burden and barriers of accessing care delivery for SCD in rural areas.
Network Promotes PEN-Plus at 4th Global Congress on Sickle Cell Disease
A team that included NCDI Poverty Network Co-Chair Dr. Gene Bukhman, Voices Advocacy Fellow Eunice Owino, and Advocacy & Training Associate Lauren Brown traveled to Paris in June to represent the Network and promote PEN-Plus at the 4th Global Congress on Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).
WHO Leaders Discuss PEN-Plus at the World Health Assembly
Leaders from the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), WHO Headquarters, and other stakeholders invested in the implementation of PEN-Plus met in Geneva on 24 May to discuss PEN-Plus as a key strategy for decentralizing care for severe NCDs and providing the world’s most vulnerable with accessible and affordable health care for chronic conditions including type 1 diabetes (T1D), sickle cell disease (SCD), and rheumatic and congenital heart disease (RHD/CHD).
Overcoming Stigma to Become an Advocate for Kids with Cancer in Uganda and Beyond
“I fought cancer and won, and now I’m fighting the stigma that people with NCDs are doomed to die, because everyone deserves access to affordable NCD treatment. I hope others who have lived with cancer and other NCDs will feel empowered to share their stories to break down stigma and demand access to treatment for all.“