Dear IHD Colleagues,
Per the suggestion of the Division’s leadership, this issue of the Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) Community Of Excellence (CoE) quarterly newsletter is being sent to all of IHD rather than just the CoE members. For those of you who have not yet heard of the NCD CoE, this virtual community is a network of Abt staff with an interest and/or expertise in the emerging global health area of NCDs/chronic diseases. The CoE provides these staff with a platform to share technical resources related to global NCD programming and to learn from each other through the experiences of Abt’s NCD projects. While we tend to focus on the “big four” NCDs – cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases – and their shared risk factors – tobacco use, unhealthy diets, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity – we are also open to exploring the areas of mental health and injuries, as we know that those issues are growing in your countries.
In this issue of the NCD CoE newsletter, we share: updates from IHD’s NCD projects; news about NCD wins in the US Health Division; and summaries and links to recent NCD publications, including WHO’s second global status report on NCDs, articles on innovative financing for NCDs and Ethiopia’s national NCD strategy launch, NCD learning modules, reports on delivering affordable cancer care and operationalizing diabetes policy goals, a study on the connection between diabetes and TB, and the latest Lancet series on obesity.
If you decide that you would like to continue to receive this newsletter on a quarterly basis, please email Elizabeth Magnusson to request to join the NCD CoE. If you already receive the NCD CoE newsletter, no action is required to continue your membership.
Happy Reading!
Best,
Dasha and Elizabeth (NCD Technical Segment co-leads)
NEWS FROM ABT’S NCD PROJECTS
· Showcasing Abt’s NCD work at Global Health Mini-University 2015: Abt presented at two of the Mini-U’s five sessions on NCDs, a testament to Abt’s growing role as a thought leader in this new global health area. In separate sessions, project directors Elizabeth MacGregor-Skinner and Natasha Sakolsky presented on Abt’s newest international NCD projects – Healthy Heart Africa and HealthRise – respectively. The Healthy Heart Africa presentation focused on Abt’s role in evaluating clinical and community hypertension/cardiovascular disease interventions in Kenya in order to identify what works and can be scaled up or replicated. The HealthRise presentation introduced the project’s approach for identifying barriers and opportunities for NCD care within a community and engaged participants in a group activity to brainstorm potential NCD interventions based on successes in other health areas (e.g., HIV/AIDS, MCH, FP/RH, etc.).
· Sharing Abt’s NCD Experience in India: As part of the World Congress on Public Health in Kolkata, India, in February, Deborah Klein-Walker presented on behalf of HealthRise to share the project’s experience in designing community-based NCD interventions through strategic multisectoral stakeholder engagement at the national and district levels. HealthRise India is currently using the stakeholder input received to date as well as the results of community needs assessments to design demonstration projects that aim to expand access to cardiovascular disease and diabetes care for the underserved. After presenting these proposed demonstration projects to a consultative body of local stakeholders for further refinement and alignment with local priorities, HealthRise will release an RFA and award three-year grants to local organizations to implement the projects.
· World Kidney Day story on Abt website: In honor of World Kidney Day on March 12, HealthRise Global Project Director Natasha Sakolsky shared her personal journey along the “Continuum of Care” for Chronic Kidney Disease and discussed parallels between her experience and the approach of the project she leads at Abt. Natasha’s positive experience with the health system serves as a personal reminder of what HealthRise is striving to achieve – access to quality chronic disease care.
· NCD wins in US Health: Although chronic diseases have been a priority in the US for several decades, these diseases continue to take a large toll on individuals, families, communities, the health system, and the economy in the US. Abt’s US Health Division has recently won two projects that aim to reduce the NCD burden in the US:
o $1.25 million contract with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to provide technical assistance to grantees with implementation of the “ABCS” (Aspirin in high risk individuals, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation) in 2,000 primary care practices in support of the Million Hearts goal of preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017
o $3 million contract with First 5 LA to closely examine strategies used to help address childhood obesity among young children within Los Angeles County, where obesity rates for 3- and 4-year old children in Los Angeles increased to 22 percent.
NCD REPORTS, STUDIES AND NEWS
· WHO Global Status Report on NCDs 2014: This status report is the second in a triennial series tracking worldwide progress towards the nine voluntary global NCD targets, such as reducing NCD risk factors and improving coverage of treatment for prevention of heart attacks and strokes. In addition to providing data on the current situation, the report identifies bottlenecks, opportunities and priority actions for attaining the targets. The report finds that most countries are not on track to meet the targets and that investment in health systems is critical for improving NCD outcomes. Like Abt, WHO sees recent interest in universal health coverage as “an opportunity to explicitly prioritize very cost-effective NCD interventions in basic benefits packages.”
· Innovative financing approaches for NCDs: As this Devex article explains, very limited donor funding for NCDs and challenges in mobilizing domestic resources necessitate an exploration of new ways of financing NCDs. Last month, a new working group met in Geneva to examine sustainable financing models for NCDs. Options discussed by the group included: “sin taxes,” or taxes on alcohol, tobacco and unhealthy foods to simultaneously generate revenue and reduce consumption of these products; public-private partnerships like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria; an NCD financing trust fund; and an NCD-specific government bond. We will be sure to share the working group’s report when it becomes available later this month.
· Addressing NCDs in Ethiopia: According to the WHO’s NCD Country Profiles 2014, NCDs are estimated to account for 30% of total deaths in Ethiopia. Last month Ethiopia launched three important tools to address its growing NCD burden: a National NCDs Strategy; the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control Guideline; and the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership. The new strategy emphasizes a multisectoral response to NCDs in Ethiopia and the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership aims to integrate interventions to prevent, screen for, and treat cervical cancer within existing healthcare programs in Ethiopia.
· NCD “crash courses”: Want to learn more about specific NCDs but don’t have enough time to take a full course? The NGO WiRED International has developed a number of brief learning modules on NCD topics, including hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity, and depression.
· Translating the “what” into the “how” for diabetes prevention and management: The attached report from the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) Diabetes Forum 2015 explores 33 case studies to help policy makers operationalize three key policy goals related to the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes: 1) Improve disease management for people with diabetes to reduce complication rates; 2) Establish effective surveillance to identify and support those at risk of type 2 diabetes; and 3) Introduce a range of interventions that help to create an environment focused on prevention. For the first goal, which is most aligned with Abt’s current work and capes, the reports looks at accountable care models of healthcare delivery, the innovative use of technology to improve self-management, and approaches to improve healthcare for hard-to-reach patients.
· TB and diabetes: For those of you with an interest in TB or the linkages between infectious and non-communicable diseases, this modelling study looks at the effect of diabetes on TB control in 13 countries with high TB burdens. The study suggests that “the growing diabetes epidemic could substantially affect tuberculosis epidemiology in high burden countries.”
· Lancet obesity series: This new series includes papers on the following topics: emerging examples, barriers and new thinking on obesity prevention; food policies for obesity prevention; mobilization of public support for obesity-prevention policies; child and adolescent obesity; improvement of health-care training and systems for obesity prevention and management; and creating healthy food environments and reducing global obesity by strengthening accountability systems.
· Delivering affordable cancer care: The attached report from the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) Delivering Affordable Cancer Care Forum 2015 explores how value in cancer care may be achieved. Drawing from case studies, the report proposes four priority areas to support the delivery of better value in cancer care for patients and the community: 1) Ensure patient engagement in personalized care; 2) Inform decision-making in the clinical setting; 3) Reduce delivery costs while upholding standards of care; and 4) Reward patient-centered outcomes and clinician responsibility.
Dasha Migunov | Associate | Abt Associates
4550 Montgomery Ave., Suite 800 North | Bethesda, MD 20814
O: 301.347.5540 (Tuesday-Thursday) | www.abtassociates.com
