On June 16, members of the CARECHAIN Non-communicable Disease (NCD) project advisory board held their first meeting. The team convened at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) offices in Dar es Salaam.

Members of the advisory board included NCD experts from the Ministry of Health (MoH), NIMR, Ifakara Health Institute, and the Tanzania NCD Alliance.

The CARECHAIN-NCD project aims to improve NCD care in rural and hard-to-reach populations in the Kilombero region in central Tanzania and in the Bagamoyo District in the coastal region of Tanzania.

Speaking after the meeting, Dr. Martin Rohacek, the Project Leader said, “This objective is achieved by establishing an integrated protocol-based care and referral system for NCDs for the rural population attending medical care at the healthcare centre and village dispensary level. This NCD care system is complemented by NCD training- and prevention components.”

“We received highly valuable inputs regarding the clinical care, training of health care staff, education of the population in NCDs, IT- and data management, and research. With this first meeting, a solid collaboration with these experts and their institutions has been established,” added Dr. Rohacek.

With funding and assistance from the Else Kroner Fresenius Foundation, the CARECHAIN-NCD project's implementation started in January 2023 and is anticipated to last until April 2028.

Learn more about the CARECHAIN-NCD Project

Present at the advisory board meeting from Ifakara Health Institute was; Dr. Sally Mtenga , Senior Social Scientist; Dr. Andrew Katende, Head of Heart and Lung Clinic Ifakara; Evance Mahundi, Clinical Officer Heart and Lung Clinic Ifakara; Priscilla Mlay, Project Administrator; and Dr. Martin Rohacek, Physician and Researcher at Ifakara and Swiss TPH.

Also, in attendance was, Dr. Omary Ubuguyu, Assistant Director National NCD Prevention and Control Program, MOH; Dr. Mary Mayige, Director of Research Information and Regulatory Affairs, National Institute for Medical Research; and Dr. Stephen M Kibusi, Dean School of Nursing and Public Health, University of Dodoma.

Other experts included Prof. Kaushik Ramayia, Professor in Medicine and Global Health and CEO Shree Hindu Mandy Hospital; Mr. Goodluck Tumaini, NCD Prevention Coordinator, MOH; and Dr. Thomas Zoller, Pulmologist at Carité University Hospital, Berlin (he attended online via Zoom).