Patient advocates have called for greater involvement in the design and delivery of strategies to prevent and manage non-communicable diseases and chronic diseases.
This was at the International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO) African Regional Network Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa which draw participants from 18 patient groups from nine African countries: Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The meeting participants shared challenges and solutions to overcome them whilst committing to working in partnership with all stakeholders.
Participants said it is urgent that effective strategies are put in place to protect people from the threat of chronic disease to their health and quality of life stressing that there are many challenges to improving healthcare for people in Africa and efforts have been met with varying degrees of success.
They further said in 2011, there is an important opportunity for political leaders and key stakeholders to renew their commitment and efforts to meet the ever-growing threat of non-communicable diseases to the social and economic development of people in Africa.
Participants expressed frustration that health policies and initiatives rarely include patient involvement stating that they can help ensure healthcare services are developed to make the most efficient and appropriate use of limited resources.
In addition, they raised concerns about the inequity of provision of funding and services between chronic conditions which leads to competition between disease areas rather than treating all patients whether they have a common and well known condition, such as cancer, or a rare disease.
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