News and Events

Integration Science Can Help Heal Global Health Inequities
Integration Science Can Help Heal Global Health Inequities
Integration science can do more than deliver quality healthcare; it can also deliver global health equity solutions. That’s the central premise of “From Local Innovation ...
Stronger Together: Network Celebrates Third Anniversary with Videos from PEN-Plus Heroes
Stronger Together: Network Celebrates Third Anniversary with Videos from PEN-Plus Heroes
“Hi, all!” Edith Mukantwari says as she beams into the camera. “We are stronger together. Let’s do this!” And with that greeting, Mukantwari, a Voices ...
Uganda Ministry of Health Celebrates PEN-Plus Launch
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 ...
Experts Focused on PEN-Plus in Southern Africa During International Conference on Public Health in Africa
Experts Focused on PEN-Plus in Southern Africa During International Conference on Public Health in Africa
The NCDI Poverty Network and the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) hosted a side event, “PEN-Plus Partnership: An NCDI Poverty Network Initiative ...
Stronger Together: The Power of Patient Organizers in the Fight for Global Health Justice
Stronger Together: The Power of Patient Organizers in the Fight for Global Health Justice
“People living with chronic conditions have historically not been considered important decision-makers from a policy perspective,” said Dr. Apoorva Gomber, coauthor of an opinion piece ...
Steering Committee Advances Strategies for PEN-Plus Implementation
Steering Committee Advances Strategies for PEN-Plus Implementation
Members of the NCDI Poverty Network’s Steering Committee convened on 8 November for their ninth meeting. The event included presentations on the progress of the ...
Network Team Aligns with the Ministry of Health and PEN-Plus Partners in Nepal
Network Team Aligns with the Ministry of Health and PEN-Plus Partners in Nepal
A team of NCDI Poverty Network technical experts recently traveled to Nepal to align with partners following the Ministry of Health’s decision to expand PEN-Plus ...
The BMJ Highlights Opportunity to Save Lives Through PEN-Plus
The BMJ Highlights Opportunity to Save Lives Through PEN-Plus
An opinion article published this month in The BMJ spotlights the PEN-Plus strategy as a new hope for improving chronic disease care in sub-Saharan Africa. ...
PEN-Plus Partnership High-Level Advisory Group Convenes in New York City
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 ...
Network Celebrates Launch of Voices for PEN-Plus
Network Celebrates Launch of Voices for PEN-Plus
“We know what is best for us,” said Anu Gomanju, a person living with rheumatic heart disease in Nepal. “That’s why our needs and voices ...
João Mindo: A PEN-Plus Success Story
João Mindo: A PEN-Plus Success Story
“When I got sick, I couldn’t play. My heart would beat so fast. Since my heart surgery, I’m fine, and I can run and play.” ...
Undaunted Spirit Despite Dual Diagnoses
Undaunted Spirit Despite Dual Diagnoses
As an infant, Tawonashe Mugura was always in and out of the hospital. Sometimes, he had difficulty breathing; other times, he was jaundiced. His body ...
Center for Integration Science Participates in Africa CDC Workshop on Noncommunicable Diseases
Center for Integration Science Participates in Africa CDC Workshop on Noncommunicable Diseases
The Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity participated in an Africa CDC/African Union workshop, “Non-Communicable Diseases, Injuries, and Mental Health Surveillance: Situational Analysis ...
Center for Integration Science and WHO Regional Office for Africa Plan Joint Collaboration to Achieve PEN-Plus Regional Implementation Targets
Center for Integration Science and WHO Regional Office for Africa Plan Joint Collaboration to Achieve PEN-Plus Regional Implementation Targets
The WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO) and the NCDI Poverty Network met in Accra, Ghana, from 17 to 19 July to discuss the region’s ...
Helmsley Charitable Trust Grants $9 Million to WHO Regional Office for Africa for Severe Noncommunicable Diseases
Helmsley Charitable Trust Grants $9 Million to WHO Regional Office for Africa for Severe Noncommunicable Diseases
Efforts to expand PEN-Plus across sub-Saharan Africa received a major boost when the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced a $9 million ...
Apoorva Gomber Delivers Impassioned Plea at United Nations Hearing
Apoorva Gomber Delivers Impassioned Plea at United Nations Hearing
“Where a child lives should not determine whether a child lives,” declared Dr. Apoorva Gomber, associate advocacy director for the NCDI Poverty Network. “And yet ...
NCDI Poverty Network Co-Chairs Receive World Heart Federation Award in Geneva
NCDI Poverty Network Co-Chairs Receive World Heart Federation Award in Geneva
The World Heart Federation has presented its Outstanding Contribution to Cardiovascular Health Award to Drs. Gene Bukhman and Ana Mocumbi, co-chairs of the NCDI Poverty ...
World Health Organization Recognizes Center for Its Leadership in Integration Science
World Health Organization Recognizes Center for Its Leadership in Integration Science
The Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity has been named a WHO Collaborating Centre in recognition of its work in designing integrated care ...
Defining and Integrating Essential NCD Interventions in National Health Systems: Requesting Letters of Intent for a Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Study
Defining and Integrating Essential NCD Interventions in National Health Systems: Requesting Letters of Intent for a Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Study
Request for Letters of Interest from Ghana and Tanzania Background: The Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity (CIS) is seeking a leading health ...
High-Level Advisory Group Visit to Mozambique Highlights Need for PEN-Plus Clinics
High-Level Advisory Group Visit to Mozambique 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 ...
New Lancet Commentary Highlights Feasibility of Decentralizing Care for Severe, Chronic NCDs
New Lancet Commentary Highlights Feasibility of Decentralizing Care for Severe, Chronic NCDs
  A commentary published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology in early May showcases the power of PEN-Plus and the PEN-Plus Partnership to bring lifesaving ...
What Women Want: Study in Rwanda Highlights Women’s Priority Health Concerns
What Women Want: Study in Rwanda Highlights Women’s Priority Health Concerns
      Access to care for back pain, food insecurity, and abnormal vaginal bleeding. Overcoming the barriers to care posed by the high costs ...
Q&A: Center for Integration Science Aims to Break the Impasse on Global Health Equity
Q&A: Center for Integration Science Aims to Break the Impasse on Global Health Equity
    “The Center for Integration Science is a group of clinicians, researchers, and administrators focused on moving health resources to the world’s poorest people. ...
NCDI Poverty Network and WHO/AFRO Teams Meet to Plan for PEN-Plus Implementation
NCDI Poverty Network and WHO/AFRO Teams Meet to Plan for PEN-Plus Implementation
Momentum has continued since the 47 member states of the African Region of the World Health Organization adopted the regional PEN-Plus strategy to address severe ...
PEN-Plus on the Agenda at WAHO Regional Review Meeting
PEN-Plus on the Agenda at WAHO Regional Review Meeting
Following the adoption of the PEN-Plus strategy to address severe NCDs at first-level referral health facilities by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa ...
CIS Executive Director travels to Sofala Province ahead of PEN-Plus implementation in Mozambique
CIS Executive Director travels to Sofala Province ahead of PEN-Plus implementation in Mozambique
NCDI Poverty Network Co-Chair Dr. Ana Mocumbi and the Mozambique Co-Secretariat and Southern Africa Regional Hub team recently hosted CIS Executive Director and NCDI Poverty ...
WHO Leaders Discuss PEN-Plus at the World Health Assembly
WHO Leaders Discuss PEN-Plus at the World Health Assembly
Leaders from the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), WHO Headquarters, and other stakeholders invested in the implementation of PEN-Plus met in ...
Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity Celebrates Inaugural Symposium
Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity Celebrates Inaugural Symposium
The Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity (CIS) hosted its inaugural symposium on Thursday, 10 November 2022 at the Joseph B. Martin Conference ...
WHO/AFRO Member States Adopt Regional Strategy to Implement PEN-Plus
WHO/AFRO Member States Adopt Regional Strategy to Implement PEN-Plus
On 23 August 2022, the 47 Member States of the WHO/AFRO region voted unanimously to adopt the regional PEN-Plus strategy to address severe NCDs at ...
Rwanda Successfully Pilots Heart Failure Training Model
Rwanda Successfully Pilots Heart Failure Training Model
A training model that combines in-person classroom instruction with a digital, e-learning platform has been successfully piloted in Rwanda to train PEN-Plus nurses and physicians in the knowledge, skills, and competencies to diagnose and treat heart failure.
Malawi study shows CHW programs can be expanded to address NCDs
Malawi study shows CHW programs can be expanded to address NCDs
A recently published study found that expanding an existing HIV and tuberculosis (TB) CHW program in the Neno district of Malawi to include non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and other conditions reduced the number of patients defaulting from chronic NCD care each month by approximately 20% while maintaining the already low default rate for HIV patients.