Care for Hypertension and Other Chronic Conditions in Samoa : Understanding the Bottlenecks and Closing the Implementation Gaps
The importance of non-communicable diseases (NCD) for the health status of Samoa’s population cannot be overstated - NCD causes are responsible for 7 of 10 pre-mature deaths with 3 of 10 due to cardiovascular causes alone1. Many adults are hyperten...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/546121579851844772/Care-for-Hypertension-and-other-Chronic-Conditions-in-Samoa-Understanding-the-Bottlenecks-and-Closing-the-Implementation-Gaps http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33256 |
| Summary: | The importance of non-communicable
diseases (NCD) for the health status of Samoa’s population
cannot be overstated - NCD causes are responsible for 7 of
10 pre-mature deaths with 3 of 10 due to cardiovascular
causes alone1. Many adults are hypertensive while rates of
type diabetes and obesity are among the highest in the world
and on an increasing trend. The 2013 Stepwise Approach to
Surveillance (STEPS) survey found that 28.9 percent of the
Samoa population are hypertensive, and 24.8 percent have
diabetes. In response, the Government of Samoa has made NCD
control and people, centered health services a priority in
its Strategy for the Development of Samoa 2016/17-2019/20
and issued the National NCD Policy 2019-2023. In 2015, it
contextualized and piloted WHO’s Package of Essential
Non-communicable diseases (PEN) interventions and collected
implementation experiences. The PEN Fa’a Samoa is oriented
toward community participation and outreach services. It
places emphasis on early detection of NCDs, effective
referral and increasing population awareness of NCD risk
factors. However four years after initiating PEN Fa’a Samoa
program, it had only been rolled out to 17 out of total 431
villages in the country indicating the stagnant status of
the screening. A World Bank study of NCD cost analysis in
2017 flagged low hypertension (HTN) treatment levels in
Samoa as an issue of concern. The widespread HTN and the
significant cardiovascular disease burden and high premature
deaths suggest that the continuum of HTN care is sub-optimal
in Samoa. To support the Government in improving NCD care,
the World Bank joined the Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2018
to conduct a study on HTN and chronic care. The primary aim
was to identify breakpoints and gaps in the continuum of HTN
care and determine issues in chronic care and propose
potential solutions. The study findings inform Samoa’s
policy formulation, intervention implementation and the
World Bank’s Samoa NCD control project. As the first in the
Pacific Region to do an implementation cascade study, other
Pacific Island Countries (PICs) may also draw on the
findings of the study. |
|---|