NCDI Poverty Network Knowledge Exchange – Leading with Equity

The NCDI Poverty Network’s new Knowledge Exchange series kicked off on 30 March with over 80 participants meeting online to discuss the importance of prioritizing severe NCDs and injuries that impact children and young adults living in extreme poverty as a key to achieving universal health coverage.

The event featured a panel discussion in which the audience had the opportunity to ask questions. Invited speakers included: Uganda NCDI Commission Co-Chair Isaac Ssinabulya of the Uganda Initiative for Integrated Management of Non-Communicable Diseases (UINCD) and the Uganda Heart Institute; Dr. Chembe Kachimanga of Partners in Health Malawi/Abwenzi Pa Za Umoyo; and Voices of NCDI Poverty Advocacy Fellow Paladie Kampuhwe Mategeko from Rwanda.

The discussion led to several key takeaways, notably that the severe NCDIs that disproportionally affect poor children and young adults – such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatic heart disease, and sickle cell disease – are generally fatal if left untreated and cannot be prevented by modifying behavioral risk factors like unhealthy diets or lack of exercise. Thus leading with equity requires that NCDI services prioritize treatment as well as prevention. The group agreed that by involving patients and advocates in policy discussions, countries can ensure that NCDI services are equitable.