NCDI Poverty Network

06/19/2026

Proud to partner with Doctors with Africa CUAMM to raise awareness and expand care for in Sierra Leone.

On , standing together and peer support are all the more important, as we work together to "Close the Survival Gap" for children, teens and young adults living with sickle cell disease.

06/17/2026

António Joaquim’s health concerns began subtly, at home near Nhamatanda, . His father, Joaquim Augusto Tivane, said the first symptoms resembled those of the common cold.
“The first signs we noticed were constant fevers,” Tivane said of his 15-year-old son. “His body would get very hot, and he coughed a lot. This started around April 2024.”

Like many parents in low-resource areas, Tivane and his wife, Thulesse Quefasse, initially struggled to find a care provider who could help them understand the cause of their son's illness.
Yet António’s condition continued to worsen.

Read the family's story, told by our co-secretariat in Maputo, Mozambique.

And with less than a week away, remember that every health policy affects children, families, and communities. We look forward to more successful policies and integrated care models like PEN-Plus, so we can all share more successful stories like Antonio's.

At just 15 years old, António Joaquim has already faced a life-threatening condition. His story of resilience and recovery illustrates the challenges of accessing timely diagnoses for noncommunicable diseases in low-resource settings—and the impact of integrated care models such as PEN-Plus.

06/11/2026

"It’s one thing to have a high-level strategy that looks good in a boardroom in Harare,” said Dr. Justice Mudavanhu, director of noncommunicable diseases for the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care. “It’s another thing entirely to create a granular, costed, implementable document that makes sense to a nurse working alone in a rural hospital. We couldn't afford for this to be a theoretical document that sits on a shelf. It had to be a practical tool.”

Wise words about transforming NCD care in Zimbabwe, and food for thought ahead of this month in Tanzania!

SolidarMed Zimbabwe Clinton Health Access Initiative World Health Organization African Region UNICEF

Dr. Justice Mudavanhu, a Ministry of Health expert, reports that Zimbabwe’s PEN-Plus national operational plan, launched just last year, has already helped transform PEN-Plus implementation from a partner-driven activity in one corner of the country to a Ministry of Health program poised for natio...

05/26/2026

Less than a month until in Tanzania! For a primer on PEN-Plus, check out this February editorial by The Lancet Primary Care.

"In rural communities where people travel long distances to access care in tertiary hospitals, PEN-Plus ensures local decentralized care for less common NCDs that can have major long-term health impacts, including type 1 , sickle cell disease, and rheumatic and congenital heart diseases.
Undeniably, PEN-Plus has improved quality of life and access to health care in some of the most deprived areas of the world, with...the program serving a combined catchment area of 25 million people as of 2024."

World Health Organization African Region

With shifting epidemiological transitions, and despite a persistent burden of infectious diseases in some parts of the world, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Low-income settings accounted for an estimated 75% of NCD-related deaths globally....

05/25/2026

Less than a month until in Tanzania!

05/19/2026

Thank you Doctors with Africa CUAMM for highlighting the impacts of the PEN-Plus model of integrated care for severe, chronic noncommunicable diseases, such as type 1 , disease and childhood-onset . We fully agree that "stronger health systems require evidence-based solutions, local partnerships, and long-term investments in people, care models, and research capacity."

05/13/2026

Want to learn about for health equity and patient care, from rising voices who live with severe, chronic noncommunicable diseases and are using their voice for awareness and policy discussions?

JOIN our public Advocacy Working Group meeting on THURSDAY, MAY 14 from 9 - 10 a.m. eastern, and listen to Voices for PEN-Plus members Emmanuella Selasi Hormenoo (left) of Diabetes Youth Care in Ghana and Evans M. Malik's of Kenya Mended Hearts Patient's Association and NCD Alliance Kenya.

REGISTER through the link in the first comment, below. See you then!

05/01/2026

On his very first night at camp near Lusaka, Zambia, while his fellow campers slept, 11-year-old Daniel Mulowa received medical treatment for a sickle cell crisis.

When the worst was over, medical staff asked him a natural question: Would he like to return home, given what he had just gone through?

No one would have blamed him if he had said yes.

What would you have said in that moment, at age 11?

Read on to see what Daniel decided, and how it might have changed his life.

CIDRZ - the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia
Sonia Nabeta Foundation

Daniel Mulowa, an 11-year-old with sickle cell disease, experienced a transformative week at an PEN-Plus camp last summer. The camp, held in Zambia for young people with sickle cell disease or type 1 diabetes, showed the power of peer support, health education, and empowerment.

04/17/2026

Proud to have Lwimba as part of the Voices for PEN-Plus initiative, which promotes peer support, shared experiences, awareness and advocacy to improve care and resources for people living with severe, chronic noncommunicable diseases ( ). Breaking down barriers and raising awareness starts in the community. Together, we all can .

CIDRZ - the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia

04/03/2026

As global health funding continues to face challenges, a four-paper series being prepared for publication in The Lancet will provide the case for integration science as a tool for unlocking significant gains in health equity worldwide.

More than 50 authors from dozens of countries are writing the papers. These experts represent a range of organizations and include academics, ministry officials, and people with lived experience from across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

“We’ve been seeing countries independently moving toward integrated care delivery out of necessity, but these efforts are often fragmented and narrow,” said Dr. Gene Bukhman, lead author of the series. “Integration science provides a data-driven methodology to make these efforts more comprehensive and effective. And, when you combine integrated delivery models with integrated social movements, you create the conditions for real progress in global health equity.”

As global health funding continues to evolve, more than 50 experts from dozens of countries are preparing for publication a new four-paper series that will offer integration science as a tool for unlocking significant gains in health equity worldwide. These collaborators represent a range of organiz