The Program in Global Non-communicable Disease and Social Change is pleased to announce the inaugural meeting of the NCD Synergies Network , which will be held in Kigali, Rwanda on July 15-16, 2013. Following this inaugural meeting, a virtual expert panel will be held on GHDonline to discuss outcomes from the meeting, initiatives being put together, and, for people who could not attend, to enable access and discussion of the meeting notes and presentations with speakers and participants. To participate, join the Endemic Non-Communicable Diseases of Poverty community on GHDonline.

The Synergies Initiative, led by the Rwanda Ministry of Health and supported by Partners In Health, responds to the growing body of evidence that non-communicable diseases are not simply an epidemic of excess. NCDs are a significant fraction of the burden of disease borne by people living in extreme poverty, and together with infectious diseases and maternal and child deaths, account for the totality of death and disability in these vulnerable populations. Not enough global attention has been paid to the need to integrate NCD services into health systems of low-income countries.

The Synergies Network conference in July will be the first opportunity for Network participants to engage in structured discussions intended to animate and motivate planning for NCD treatment, to catalyze and support technical collaborations, and to develop a common vocabulary with which to sustain cooperative efforts over time.

For more information, please read the NCD Synergies Initiative Concept Note (PDF).