World Health Organization
New global commitment to primary health care for all at Astana conference
24 Oct 2018
News
NCD Lab Cycle 4: How five innovative projects in Africa are transforming the delivery of NCD and mental health services in primary health care
World Health Organization | 11 Dec 2024
For its 4th cycle, the WHO NCD Lab called for innovative solutions that strengthen noncommunicable disease (NCD) and mental health services using a primary health care approach. Out of the more than 80 submitted projects, five innovations were selected to be included in the NCD Lab’s growing global portfolio of leading NCD innovations. Discover how these five innovators are tackling NCDs and mental health challenges in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda with integrated, community-driven, and inclusive initiatives.
Transforming the delivery of NCD and mental health services through primary health care.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions contribute to millions of premature deaths and people experiencing disability. Primary health care approaches are among the most promising tools to meet this pressing global public health and equity challenge: they build on integrated health services, address wider determinates of health through multisectoral policies and programmes, and empower individuals, families and communities to take decisions on their own health.
NCD Lab: Effective and equitable grassroots innovations
Since 2021, the WHO NCD Lab has been supporting promising grassroots innovations to achieve scale by building capacity, sharing knowledge and forging strategic partnerships. Through annual calls for submissions, the NCD Lab welcomes innovative, community-driven initiatives that work to address the root causes of NCD and mental health challenges, transform how health services are delivered, and respond to pressing country needs.
For its 4th cycle, the NCD Lab called for projects that transform how NCD and mental health services are delivered by leveraging the primary health care approach. More than 80 projects from all around the world were submitted across the three thematic areas ‘Women and Girls’, ‘NCDs and the Next Generation’, and ‘Meaningful Engagement of People Living with NCDs and Mental Health Conditions’.
Five projects were selected, each leveraging grassroots community engagement, social and technical innovation, and primary care elements towards tackling pressing NCDs and mental health challenges.
Ghana: A mobile primary healthcare clinic
In Ghana, OKB Hope Foundation deploys mobile health vans equipped with point-of-care diagnostics, medical supplies, equipment, a wide range of medications, and experienced healthcare providers to offer comprehensive care to rural communities.
Kenya: Improving youth-friendly mental health care and awareness in Nakuru County
By training community health workers, engaging young people as lay counsellors in their communities, and leveraging new technologies to facilitate accessible and confidential counselling and referrals, the MAISHA project (Swahili for “life”) is working to improve youth-friendly mental health care and awareness in Nakuru County; Kenya.
Nigeria: Mental health support to end female genital mutilation in Ekiti State
The Gender Mobile Initiative specializes in preventing sexual and gender-based violence and providing mental health and legal support to survivors of Female Genital Mutilation, a harmful practice and an internationally recognized violation of multiple human rights, affecting one in two women and girls aged 15-49 in Ekiti State in Nigeria.
South Africa: A low-cost, cascading mental health promotion approach empowering young people and communities in township communities in Johannesburg
With a cascading train-the-trainers course and service transformation framework, Kids Haven is partnering with schools, communities and local soccer teams to strengthen delivery of mental health promotion and psychosocial counselling in townships and informal settings in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality of Johannesburg.
Uganda: Integrating mental health services for women and girls into primary care
In the conflict-affected Agago District of Northern Uganda, the Finemind project deploys an innovative, culturally sensitive and scalable approach to integrating mental health care services in primary health care facilities, training primary care workers and conducting awareness campaigns on mental health in communities.
Discover all five projects and meet with innovators at the launch webinar on 12 December, and learn more about how the WHO NCD Lab is working to support scaling-up grassroots innovations on NCDs.
Join a growing global community of innovators, implementers and partners.
