News and Stories
Making the Case for Inclusion of Children Ahead of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs
A commentary authored by Network and UNICEF leaders and published in August by The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health makes the case for better care for children and adolescents living with severe, chronic NCDs in settings of extreme poverty, a case that’s also reflected in the Network’s position statement ahead of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs in September.
At a United Nations Hearing, Network Provides Testimony on Global Health Gaps
On behalf of the NCDI Poverty Network, Rachel Gasana, senior director of advancement, testified at the multistakeholder hearing on noncommunicable diseases, held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The Network was one of 70 organizations selected to deliver testimonies as a prelude to the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs in September.
Webinar to Explore the Impact of PEN-Plus on the Care of Children with NCDs
Dr. Neil Gupta, a pediatrician and the senior director of policy at the NCDI Poverty Network, will join a panel of healthcare providers in an upcoming webinar that explores how PEN-Plus affects the care of children living with severe NCDs. The International Pediatric Association is hosting the webinar on March 25.
Springboard for Action
The PEN-Plus Partnership Strategic Plan (2025–2028) had its official launch at Springboard for Action, an event celebrating progress toward global access to care for people living with severe, chronic noncommunicable diseases. The NCDI Poverty Network hosted the event in New York City in September on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the U.N. General Assembly.
Photo Gallery: UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia Workshop
In early June, delegations from all eight countries in UNICEF ROSA—the Regional Office for South Asia—convened in Kathmandu for a three-day workshop on severe childhood-onset noncommunicable diseases.
PEN-Plus Partnership High-Level Advisory Group Convenes in New York City
The High-Level Advisory Group of the PEN-Plus Partnership met in New York City on 19 September to discuss the progress and future of PEN-Plus, an integrated care model that diagnoses and treats severe noncommunicable diseases in rural areas of low- and lower-middle-income countries, where more than 90 percent of the world’s poorest people live.
Mozambique Visit Highlights Need for PEN-Plus Clinics
The stark realities of living with severe noncommunicable diseases in extreme poverty became clear to members of the High-Level Advisory Group of the PEN-Plus Partnership when they convened in Mozambique in March to discuss strategies for supporting initiation and scale-up of PEN-Plus in resource-poor countries.
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.