News and Stories
Crises Averted: The Story of Amza Musa
Eight-year-old Amza Musa receives free treatment for his sickle cell disease at the PEN-Plus clinic at Koidu Government Hospital in eastern Sierra Leone.
Network Publishes Clinical Tools and Programmatic Standards
The Network has published PEN-Plus Clinical Tools and Programmatic Standards, a document aimed at informing clinic planning, budgeting, and operations by providing a crisp definition of PEN-Plus clinical care, including the diagnostic, treatment, and patient support services available.
Back in Play
For several years, the local health center had dismissed Fatmata Fofanah’s symptoms as the common cold. Yet those symptoms continued to worsen. “We noticed her heart was beating fast and she was short of breath,” said her mother, Mariama. “Even a few minutes of play would make her heart race.”
From Words to Action
The first International Conference on PEN-Plus in Africa provided a platform for health experts, policymakers, civil society organization representatives, donors, people living with noncommunicable diseases, and community advocates to expedite political and financial backing for PEN-Plus.
Center for Integration Science Joins Africa CDC Workshop on Noncommunicable Diseases
The Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity participated in an Africa CDC/African Union workshop, “Non-Communicable Diseases, Injuries, and Mental Health Surveillance: Situational Analysis and Peer Learning,” in July 2023 in Ghana.
“Help for Life and Health for All”
“Help for life and health for all!” wrote Dr. Giacamo Marro of Doctors with Africa CUAMM on the Italian NGO’s blog. “With this message of hope and commitment, chosen by the health personnel, the PEN-Plus clinic for chronic non-communicable diseases at the government hospital in Pujehun was officially opened.”
PEN-Plus in Action Introduces a Global Partnership to Fight Severe, Chronic NCDs
More than 60 representatives of leading global health policy, technical, advocacy, and financing institutions and people living with NCDs gathered at UNICEF House in New York on September 15, 2022, to introduce the PEN-Plus Partnership, a major international initiative to address the global burden of severe NCDs and injuries that cause more than 500,000 avoidable deaths every year among children and young adults living in extreme poverty.
Sierra Leone National Commission Launches Report
The Sierra Leone NCDI Poverty Commission report was officially launched by Minister of Health and Sanitation Alpha Tejan Wurie on 26 November 2020.