Progressive Decentralization and Integrated Care Teams –
Keys to Bridging the Gap in Services for NCDs and Injuries
Non-communicable diseases and injuries (NCDIs) account for a large and growing proportion of the burden of disease in all World Health Organizations (WHO) regions, including in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LLMICs). Among the world’s poorest billion people, NCDIs cause almost 800,000 deaths under the age of 40 every year – more than HIV, tuberculosis, and maternal deaths combined.
Proven, cost-effective, and equitable NCDI interventions exist that could save millions of lives each year, if scaled to reach everyone in need. But in many LLMICs, these interventions are available only at referral hospitals in capital cities, which makes them inaccessible and unaffordable for the rural poor.
The key to achieving both Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goal targets for reducing mortality from NCDIs is to develop and implement strategies for progressive decentralization and integrated service delivery that can deliver these interventions, with quality, at lower levels of the health system and in rural areas.
