Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases

“The global health community is at a critical crossroads. For the past decade, it was essential to fund interventions for specific diseases because the number of infections was so vast. As demographics change and people are living longer, however, a health systems approach to NCDs has the greatest health impact and ensures that interventions are sustainable, efficient, and effective.” —Jonathan D. Quick, MD, MPH, President and CEO, Management Sciences for Health

Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancers, diabetes, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases represent a rising health burden for low and middle income countries. MSH is committed to addressing the rising burden of chronic NCDs by strengthening health systems, grounding health policy in the principle of universal health coverage, advocating for an integrated approach to the delivery of health care, and promoting partnerships across all sectors (public, private, civil) to ensure a coordinated response.

Highlights of Our Work on Chronic Non-Communicable Deseases

The Shree Hindu Mandal Hospital’s HIV/AIDS Treatment Centre in Dar es Salaam and MSH used a financing mechanism called a Rapid Funding Envelope (RFE) to improve the delivery of integrated chronic care services. In 2011, 15 percent of its 3,400 patients on antiretroviral therapies were identified as having co-morbidities, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders.
  In eastern Uganda, MSH launched a pilot program among women living with HIV & AIDS to provide cervical and breast cancer screening and reduce the number of new cases and related morbidity and mortality. Four hundred eighty-four sexually active women and girls living with HIV & AIDS were screened for cervical and breast cancer in 18 health centers.

"Delivering Hope: Cancer Care in the Developing World" is a LIVESTRONG film highlighting survivor stories from Rwanda, Jordan and Mexico to describe how existing health systems designed to treat infectious diseases can be strengthened to address the urgent and growing cancer burden.