National Commissions

PEN-Plus partners and stakeholders met in Addis Ababa on October 19 to discuss Ethiopia’s national scaleup of PEN-Plus. This scaleup will expand the accessibility and availability of quality noncommunicable disease care at the country’s primary hospital level.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) NCDI Poverty Commission convened from 25-26 October to review NCDI data as part of a priority-setting meeting.

In March and May, the Ministry of Health of Rwanda offered two weeks of practical training for 24 nurses and doctors from a dozen PEN-Plus district hospitals. The training, which was offered in partnership with Team Heart, Partners In Health Rwanda, and the NCDI Poverty Network, focused on developing the skills needed to diagnose and treat heart failure in rural district hospitals.

In May, eight PEN-Plus providers in Zimbabwe received initial training in performing and interpreting echocardiograms. Those eight providers—along seven others—were also trained in managing heart failure.

On 2 June, Mozambique Minister of Health H.E. Dr. Armindo Daniel Tiago visited the PEN-Plus clinic at Nhamatanda Rural Hospital.

The Kenya Ministry of Health, the county government of Vihiga, and NCD Alliance Kenya hosted a celebration of the launch of PEN-Plus in Kenya on June 19.

Members of the Burkina Faso NCDI Poverty Commission met at the Ministry of Health offices in Ouagadougou in early May to review national NCDI data as part of an initial situation analysis.