Non-communicable Diseases

Rationale

The burden of chronic NCDs is growing globally and at an unprecedented rate in LMICs as a consequence of population aging, unplanned urbanisation, and widespread unhealthy lifestyles. As a result, current health systems are challenged with an ever-increasing number of chronic patients adding up to already burdened structures due to widespread infections. Additionally, the associated economic burden on households poses major challenges for patients and their families and for societies at large.

This 3-week course on NCDs is directed to health professionals and researchers involved in NCD prevention and control from both the epidemiological, clinical and health systems perspective.

The aim is to increase the participant’s capacity to assess the burden and the determinants of NCDs, and to develop, implement and evaluate strategies to tackle NCDs contextualized to specific settings. The focus is on highly prevalent NCDs in LMIC, such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and their common comorbidities, as well as cancer and mental health.

This course gathers knowledge from experts on global NCDs and includes lectures, case-studies and opportunities for interaction with class peers. Participants will appraise the current scientific evidence and learn how to translate knowledge into evidence-based prevention and control programmes. The course will include perspectives from different disciplines, combining clinical, epidemiological, social and public health approaches.

The Department of Public Health (DPH) at ITM has a solid record in research on care models for NCDs, including community-based peer support and self-management in low resource health system settings. Together with the clinical department we developed sound expertise in the organization of chronic care for infectious diseases such as HIV, an important co-morbid condition to NCDs in many LMIC, that will inspire the care model for chronic NCDs. We will also tap from the expertise of our worldwide network inviting collaborators as guest lecturers.