Expand scope to include monitoring and prevention of NCDs
The Andean city of Pasto, among Colombia’s oldest towns and for centuries a religious and cultural center, is now the site of an NPHI capacity-building project focused on a new health problem for Latin America – noncommunicable diseases.Colombia’s Instituto Nacional de Salud recognizes the alarming increase in the country’s rate of noncommunicable conditions and wants to fulfill its public health responsibilities through expansion into this area. However, without national capacity to generate timely and relevant data about determinants, risk factors, and interventions, the institute lacks a science base for public health action.
To fill this gap, the institute is using IANPHI grant funds to establish a pilot chronic disease study site in Pasto. Researchers are using multiple mechanisms to generate, collect, and disseminate chronic disease data – integrating disease surveillance, research, and monitoring functions.
Among the goals are to:
- Identify trends in relevant indicators
- Assess health disparities associated with chronic diseases
- Identify priority areas and groups for interventions
- Assess the performance, cost-effectiveness, and impact of interventions
- Identify research gaps
