Ambitions

The first ambition of SUNI-SEA is to integrate prevention and care, and to integrate community and health facility interventions in one comprehensive programme. Most of the NCD activities described in the literature, only focus on one component, and therefore have limited impact. The ambition of the project is to show that the synergies will improve health outcomes: broader NCD prevention can be achieved in the communities, with support from primary healthcare facilities; the referral of persons with risk factors from communities to healthcare facilities can be realised with an appropriate integration; also proper and more counter referral from facilities to communities for follow-up actions to reduce risk factors will improve health outcomes.

The second ambition of the project is to increase the number of previously undetected patients suffering from hypertension or diabetes. Around one-third of the people with risk factors for these diseases is reached in Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam. Too many people are not aware of the risks and only seek help when complications occur. Awareness raising, early detection of risks in the communities, and timely referral are very important to detect more people and to avoid advanced medical care. Innovations such as the mobile phone health applications or self-management in self-help groups can help to achieve this ambition. The project will show that empowering people at community level, embedding NCD prevention in socio-economic development, and reducing poverty will have an impact on health outcomes and healthy ageing.

The third ambition is to contribute to update of international guidelines, tools and instruments. The consortium thinks that lessons learned from the front runner countries Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam can also be translated to other Asian countries and European countries as well. Through maintaining contacts via GACD and other networks, the consortium will contribute to international research networking in this area.