News and Stories
‘Positioned as a Solution’: Three Intensive Years Preceded Kenya’s National Plan for PEN-Plus
Several countries that have already implemented PEN-Plus are now launching national operational plans to detail how they will use the model to expand, integrate, and decentralize care for people living with noncommunicable diseases. A leader in Kenya’s Ministry of Health recently revealed critical steps in ensuring that country’s plan would be a success.
Master Training Program Builds Momentum in Malawi
A recent training session showed that skills such as mentoring, proficiency in giving effective feedback, and being able to assess patient experiences accurately can be as vital to quality care as medical equipment and resources.
Celebrating the Network’s First Five Years
Five years. Twenty-nine countries. Over a hundred PEN-Plus clinics. More than 14,000 patients. Together, the many collaborators that compose the NCDI Poverty Network deliver hope and healthcare to children, adolescents, and young adults navigating the dual challenges of poverty and severe, chronic noncommunicable diseases. And this is just the beginning.
PEN-Plus in the (Other) Spotlight During UNGA Week
During the opening plenary of the Sept. 25 High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health, at the UN General Assembly in New York City, repeated mentions of PEN-Plus as a successful strategy for addressing NCDs formed a show of unity in a week often noted for dissension.
Health Leaders Commit to Accelerating PEN-Plus in Africa
At the second International Conference for PEN-Plus in Africa, recently held in Abuja, health leaders, policymakers, and development partners across Africa renewed their commitment to an accelerated implementation of the PEN-Plus to significantly expand access to care for people living with severe noncommunicable diseases.
WHO AFRO Publishes Landmark PEN-Plus Report
The WHO Regional Office for Africa recently published a landmark report that details the impact and momentum of the PEN-Plus model, providing a valuable tool for advocacy and information about integrated care for people living with severe, chronic noncommunicable diseases.
Testing a Model for Depression Care in Malawi
NCDI Poverty Network members joined other researchers in assessing a mental health intervention that was integrated into an existing model of chronic care in Malawi. They found that such interventions can be inexpensive if they build off an existing infrastructure, involve lay personnel, and deliver therapy in a group format.
Challenging Assumptions for Low-Income Countries
A recently published study of people living with type 1 diabetes in two rural clinics in Malawi found a high level of acceptability and satisfaction among those using continuous glucose monitoring, suggesting that the technology is feasible in low-income settings.
From Words to Action
The first International Conference on PEN-Plus in Africa provided a platform for health experts, policymakers, civil society organization representatives, donors, people living with noncommunicable diseases, and community advocates to expedite political and financial backing for PEN-Plus.
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.
PEN-Plus: A Holistic Approach to Healthcare
“It is inconceivable that a 20-year-old man would weigh only 55 pounds,” said Bright Mailosi, a specialist in noncommunicable diseases. “So much could have been done to intervene when he was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Although I wish PEN-Plus had arrived in Karonga years earlier, I’m excited that we’ve changed the narrative of how complex NCDs are managed in rural areas.”
Experts Showcase PEN-Plus in Southern Africa
The NCDI Poverty Network and the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) hosted a side event, “PEN-Plus Partnership: An NCDI Poverty Network Initiative in Partnership with WHO/AFRO,” on 29 November at the 3rd International Conference on Public Health in Africa, held in Lusaka, Zambia.
CPHIA Side Event to Focus on PEN-Plus in Southern Africa
The Southern Africa Regional Hub of the NCDI Poverty Network and the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) will co-host a side event during the Third Annual International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA), which will take place at the Mulungushi International Conference Center in Lusaka, Zambia, on 27–30 November.
Helmsley Charitable Trust Supports WHO Regional Office for Africa Work in Severe Noncommunicable Diseases
Efforts to expand PEN-Plus across sub-Saharan Africa received a major boost today, when the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced a $9 million grant to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa to expand care for people living with severe noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
Southern Africa Regional Hub Celebrates First Anniversary
The Maputo co-secretariat of the NCDI Poverty Network, based at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, hosted an event marking the first anniversary of the establishment of both the Southern Africa Regional Hub and the Maputo co-secretariat of the NCDI Poverty Network on 1 February. The event encouraged discussion on how the Hub can support countries in the region in implementing the PEN-Plus model.
Master Trainer Leads Echocardiography Training for PEN-Plus Providers in Malawi
As part of Malawi’s efforts to scale up PEN-Plus nationally, clinical officers and nurses from two expansion sites in Salima and Karonga recently completed two weeks of echocardiography training at the PEN-Plus training site and clinics established in Neno by the Ministry of Health and Partners In Health Malawi.
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.
Network Co-Secretariat and Southern Africa Regional Hub Launched
Leading NCDI policy makers, researchers, care providers, and advocates, including the Minister of Health, His Excellency Dr. Armindo Tiago, and Dr. Orlando António Quilambo, Rector of Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), convened in Maputo on 27 October for the launch of the Mozambique Co-Secretariat and Southern Africa Regional Hub of the NCDI Poverty Network, which will be based at UEM.
Malawi Study Shows Community Health Worker Programs Can Help Expand Noncommunicable Disease and Antenatal Care
The stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated expanding an existing HIV and tuberculosis community health worker program to include NCDs, malnutrition, and tuberculosis screening, as well as family planning and antenatal care.
Malawi moves ahead with national scale-up of PEN-Plus
The Malawi PEN-Plus Steering Committee held its first meeting on 16 September 2021. The Steering Committee will oversee implementation of the Malawi PEN-Plus Operational Plan adopted in May.