Title: Strategies to support non-communicable disease interventions

Authors: Daniel Pustay; Khanjan Mehta; Peter Munyua

Addresses: Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA ' The Pennsylvania State University, 213 U Hammond Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA ' Department of Health Services, Nyeri County, P.O. Box 110-10100, Nyeri, Kenya

Abstract: In spite of being the leading cause of death in the world, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases receive a small share of global health funding. Developing nations, with fledgling health systems reliant on external funding, are ill-equipped to face the rapid onslaught of NCDs alongside communicable diseases like HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis. Innovative, practical and sustainable solutions that encompass policy, organisational, technological and business-oriented interventions are needed to address current inefficiencies and tackle the growing incidence of NCDs. This article examines the current support for NCD prevention and treatment programs in low and middle income countries, and profiles strategies to employ in the fight against NCDs. With supporting data from third-party health sector reports, international health metrics tracking, government and organisation reports, journal articles, news articles and first-hand experiences, this article examines the conventional models of support and benefits of private sector solutions.

Keywords: non-communicable diseases; NCD; health systems development; developing countries; sustainable solutions; disease interventions; disease prevention; disease treatment; private sector; healthcare support.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSEI.2015.072530

International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 2015 Vol.3 No.5, pp.353 - 361

Received: 07 Mar 2015
Accepted: 05 May 2015

Published online: 16 Oct 2015 *

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