International Conference Series on PEN-Plus in Africa to Debut in April

A nurse tends to a patient in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The country will serve as the site of the first annual International Conference on PEN-Plus in Africa. Photo by Mawuena/World Health Organization Communications

“PEN-Plus” was coined only five years ago, but already the integrated care-delivery model is receiving a spotlight on the global stage, with the launch of an international conference series.

The first annual International Conference on PEN-Plus in Africa (ICPPA 2024), an invitational conference hosted by the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa, will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from April 23 to 25.

“The relatively swift adoption of PEN-Plus in countries around the world is a testament to its effectiveness as a model for delivering health care to people living with severe noncommunicable diseases in resource-limited settings,” said Gene Bukhman, MD, PhD, a co-chair of the NCDI Poverty Network, which is serving as a key partner of the conference.

Other key partners are The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust—the principal funder of the conference—and the United Republic of Tanzania.

PEN-Plus complements the World Health Organization’s Package of Essential Noncommunicable (PEN) Disease Interventions for Primary Health Care by focusing on first-level hospitals in rural areas, where nurses and clinical officers are trained to provide care to people living with such conditions as type 1 diabetes, sickle cell disease, and rheumatic and congenital heart disease. The model has proved so successful that all 47 member states of the World Health Organization’s African region adopted it in 2022 as their official strategy for providing care to people living in extreme poverty with these conditions.

With its theme focused on type 1 diabetes, sickle cell disease, and rheumatic and congenital heart disease, the conference has several primary objectives:

·      to elevate awareness of severe, chronic noncommunicable diseases among stakeholders;

·      to facilitate resource mobilization to fortify PEN-Plus strategies at the country level;

·      to disseminate best practices and share valuable insights to advance disease management in the region; and

·      to explore collaborative opportunities to align the PEN-Plus initiative with other public health programs in the region.

The nearly 300 invitees to the conference will include high-level policymakers, regional and global experts, partners, donors, WHO staff members, advocates, and noncommunicable disease experts from ministries of health across 34 countries. With the demand for participation much higher than the venue will allow, the organizers will also livestream the conference. 

In addition, ICPPA 2024 will offer a limited number of participants a seat through its competitive call for abstracts. The deadline is February 29 for abstracts, which can be submitted in four tracks: Ending the Neglect of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) Across the Life Course in Africa; Policy Frameworks and Strategies for Integrating NCD Interventions in Primary Health Care (PHC): From WHO PEN to PEN-Plus; PEN-Plus Unveiled: Pioneering Regional Strategies, Opportunities, and Frontiers; and Engage, Empower, Excel: Community-Centric and Person-Centered NCD Care for All.

Registration for virtual participation in the conference is available on the ICPPA website