News and Features
Photo Gallery: Circle of Life
In Springboard for Action, a PEN-Plus celebration held in September on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the U.N. General Assembly, leaders from the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa, UNICEF, and Nigeria’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare all expressed their commitment to PEN-Plus. The event also featured a performance by the Broadway cast of Disney’s The Lion King.
Springboard for Action
The PEN-Plus Partnership Strategic Plan (2025–2028) had its official launch at Springboard for Action, an event celebrating progress toward global access to care for people living with severe, chronic noncommunicable diseases. The NCDI Poverty Network hosted the event in New York City in September on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the U.N. General Assembly.
Stronger Together: The Power of Patient Organizers in the Fight for Global Health Justice
“People living with chronic conditions have historically not been considered important decision-makers from a policy perspective,” said Dr. Apoorva Gomber, coauthor of an opinion piece recently published in PLOS Global Public Health.
Network Celebrates Launch of Voices for PEN-Plus
“We know what is best for us,” said Anu Gomanju, a person living with rheumatic heart disease in Nepal. “That’s why our needs and voices need to be prioritized.”
Gomanju made that statement in late September, during the online launch event for Voices for PEN-Plus. Sponsored by the NCDI Poverty Network, Voices for PEN-Plus brings together people living with severe, chronic, noncommunicable conditions to advocate for PEN-Plus implementation in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.