Elvin Geng (RCC), Vilma Irazola, and Martin Heine (iHEART-SA South Africa) at the UMC Utrecht World Population Day event. (PHOTO: Martin Heine).
Written by Martin Heine
Together with the Dutch Knowledge Center for Global Health, UMC Utrecht organized an evening symposium to commemorate World Population Day titled “A global perspective on NCDs.” Dr. Elvin Geng (RCC) was one of the keynote speakers.
Vilma Irazola, director of the Department of Chronic Diseases at the Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy discussed the implementation of the WHO HEARTS package in Argentina as well as the pivotal role of implementation science in bridging the know-do gap.
Subsequently, Dr. Geng used the African HIV response to reflect on challenges and opportunities for NCD integration.
An engaging panel discussion followed, with expert input from Arti Singh and Oscar H. Franco, who shared the important role of community engagement at all stages of knowledge creation to implementation when the NCD response is concerned. Intersectional and multi-lateral collaboration is pivotal in light of the various determinants shaping the burden of NCDs, both in relation to prevention and management.
A recording of the session is available online.
HLB-SIMPLe is funded by the Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the Fogarty International Center at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). The MAP-IT Nigeria grant is UH3-HL-154498, and the RCC grant (which funds this website) is U24-HL-154426.