Tackling NCDs: How Can Existing Platforms be Leveraged?
Date: 18 SEPTEMBER 2011
Venue: Desmond Tutu Centre, New York
This event examined how well-established service delivery platforms, such as those for HIV/AIDS and maternal and child health, can be adapted to increase the health system's ability to also address the growing challenge of NCDs (noncommunicable diseases), particularly in low-income countries. Considerable advances have been made over the past decade in building in-country capacity to respond to critical issues related to infectious diseases, child survival, and maternal health, thanks in-part to a rapid scale-up in resources and political attention. In many developing countries, such vertical health systems are the basis for their ability to address NCDs. With existing platforms as the starting point, the challenge becomes how best to adapt these systems to ones that are able to respond efficiently and effectively to any population health issue.