I first learned about the growing necessity for NCD screening and care during my December 2011 trip to Rwanda with FACE AIDS and PIH.

At that point, the now-functioning Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence was a a work in progress. The Butaro Center, being rural East Africa’s first comprehensive cancer center, serves a symbol of what can be done with proper funding and will. Yet, this model and the growing recognition of NCDs as a major issue in resource limited areas, has brought one central question to the forefront of this movement: why isn’t chronic illness (such as cancer) screening integrated into primary care services in a more widespread, efficient manner?

While this question is one that I don’t have a solid answer for, I am using it as a framework for further research on this topic, and I invite you to do the same or take on some of the other recurring questions I’ve seen asked: What is the role of local educational institutions in creating cancer-care providers (such as oncologists, nurses, etc.) in order to allow long-term growth in cancer care infrastructure? Increasingly, how are non-profit organizations across the globe taking on provision of cancer-care and screening services, and what does the future of public sector-nonprofit sector partnerships in provision of these services look like?

For more in-depth, or area specific information on these topics, here are some potential links of interest:

HSPH Infographic: “Global Burden of Disease: Good News and Bad News”

the link between mental health and NCD care 

the adoption of an omnibus resolution on NCDS at the World Health Assembly in May 2013

One example from Uganda of how organizations are increasingly getting involved in cancer care 

The very complex topic of NCD screening and care provision, especially in resource limited settings, is one to watch.