News and Stories
‘Let’s Grow Together’: Voices for PEN-Plus Team Expands
Two sickle cell warriors from Kenya and two type 1 diabetes warriors, one from Uganda and the other from Zambia, recently joined the Network’s Voices for PEN-Plus advocacy program. “Your story makes a difference, your story has impact,” veteran Voices advocate Moses Echodu said in welcoming the newcomers. “And, importantly, your story is what will keep someone else hopeful.”
Transforming Pain into Power: Mentors Encourage Young Warriors to Become Advocates
Emmanuel Kisembo and Lwimba Kasongo—who live with type 1 diabetes and sickle cell disease, respectively—are tireless advocates for awareness and education about their conditions. They are members of the NCDI Poverty Network’s Voices for PEN-Plus program and were co-captains last summer at an integrated PEN-Plus camp in Zambia, where they mentored nearly 60 youth with noncommunicable diseases. In this article, they share their lived experience and reflections on mentorship, advocacy, and the power of integration in fostering peer support.
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.
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.
Examining the Patient’s Entire Journey
The NCDI Poverty Network’s second study in a trio assessing 16 health facilities across nine countries in 2022–23, before PEN-Plus implementation, focuses on how providers deliver care, from screening and diagnosis through treatment and long-term support.
Clinicians and Peer Educators Share Tools for Diabetes Self-Management
A peer education event in May brought clinicians and community advocates from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Uganda together for training on type 1 diabetes management and symptoms, leadership, and…building towers out of spaghetti.
Study Shows Medicine and Equipment Gaps in Advance of PEN-Plus
A newly published study found that only two of 16 health facilities assessed in nine lower-income countries had all the functional equipment needed to diagnose and manage care for people living with type 1 diabetes. Two of the facilities had none of the necessary equipment.
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.
PEN-Plus in Animation
Although the central concept behind PEN-Plus is relatively simple, it can be challenging to explain the model simply. Fortunately, the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa recently shared an updated version of its animated explainer video on PEN-Plus.
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.
Training the Warrior Trainers
Two NCDI Poverty Network physicians lent their expertise during a recent diabetes training workshop that the Sonia Nabeta Foundation hosted in Uganda.
‘Community Is Crucial’
In recognition of World Diabetes Day, educator and advocate Edith Mukantwari shares her personal story of living with type 1 diabetes in Uganda, the lessons she’s learned, and the importance of a supportive community.
Building for the Future
The PEN-Plus clinic in eastern Uganda began as a gathering under a tree and has blossomed into a standalone structure with consultation and treatment rooms, a training center, and a pharmacy.
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.
Uganda Ministry of Health Celebrates PEN-Plus Launch
The Uganda Ministry of Health, the local government of the Kumi District, and the Uganda Initiative for Integrated Management of Noncommunicable Diseases hosted a celebration of the launch of PEN-Plus in Uganda on 23 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).
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.
Major Milestones for the Three East African Countries Implementing PEN-Plus
Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia are on track to open their first PEN-Plus clinics and training sites in the coming months.
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,” says Moses Echodu. “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.“
Uganda NCDI Poverty Commission launches report at World Health Summit Regional Meeting
The Uganda NCDI Poverty Commission launched its final report at a session within the World Health Summit Regional Meeting for Africa in Kampala on June 28.