To Tackle Noncommunicable Diseases, We Must Invest in Frontline Health Workers

November 14, 2016A new policy report explores the challenges we face in addressing NCDs, and offers recommendations to overcome them.Cancer kills more people in low- and middle-income countries than HIV, malaria, and tuberculosiscombined. In Kenya, for instance, it ’s thethird-leading cause of morbidity. The country ’s government wants to make cancer screening a priority in all its public health facilities, though a shortage of health workers who are trained to conduct the screenings hasslowed down their efforts.And around the world, emerging health crises such as SARS, Ebola, and now Zika often leave health systems scrambling, and draw resources and attention away from cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).A new policy report calls for investing in frontline health workers to tackle NCDs.Frontline health workers don ’t yet have the training or support they need to tackle cancer, heart disease, or diabetes on a global scale. Many aren’t prepared to provide the complex care people who live with chronic NCDs need. And as the burden of NCDs in low- and middle-income countries grows, so do the shortage and maldi stribution of frontline health workers.As a result, our global health progress on NCDs is stunted.Now a new policy report byIntraHealth International, in partnership with the Medtronic Foundation, explores these challenges —and offers recommendations to overcome them.The Case for Frontline Health Workers in Addressing Noncommunicable Diseases Globally...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Source Type: news