With the burden of cardiovascular disease, mental and neurological disorders and diabetes rising in the region, African health ministers on Tuesday, endorsed a new strategy to boost access to the diagnosis, treatment and care of severe noncommunicable diseases.

The health ministers, gathering for the seventy-second session of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa in Lomé, Togo, adopted the strategy, known as PEN-PLUS. That plan will be implemented as a regional strategy to address severe noncommunicable diseases at first-level referral health facilities. The strategy supports building the capacity of district hospitals and other first-level referral facilities to diagnose and manage severe noncommunicable diseases…more