Creating an NCD Alliance

In today’s blog, we hear from Frances Wharton who will be working with us on our new project to create an NCD alliance in St. Kitts and Nevis. 

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Being diagnosed with a non-communicable disease (NCDs) such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer or fibroids etc can be stressful and frightening. You need access to helpful information in order to manage symptoms and, if possible, prevent a deterioration of the disease. However, unfortunately, a lot of the time we are presented with a wealth of misinformation or conflicts in information or worse still, well-meaning friends and relatives sharing partial knowledge they’ve gained from the Internet or social media.

Individual Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), such as Lake Health & Wellbeing and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have been doing a fantastic role in raising awareness and educating the public in relation to NCDs. Additionally, many of the NGO/CSOs have been providing support and services to patients while also holding governments accountable and helping to shape policy.

This Alliance project aims to enhance these services even more. An alliance will allow a single joint message to be disseminated from each NGO/CSO ensuring consistency and reducing confusion. Each NGO/CSO will have the opportunity to support one another while still focusing on their main public health area. Resources and expertise can be shared and developed even more in order to better serve the local community on health-related matters. Having an alliance will also strengthen advocacy efforts, again providing a greater impact within the local community.