Non-communicable disease

The primary goal of the guideline is to improve the quality of care and the outcome in people with type 2 diabetes in low-resource settings. It recommends a set of basic interventions to integrate management of diabetes into primary health care. It will serve as basis for development of simple algorithms for use by health care staff in primary care in low-resource settings, to reduce the risk of acute and chronic complications of diabetes. The guideline was developed by a group of external and WHO experts, following the WHO process of guideline development. GRADE methodology was used to assess the quality of evidence and decide the strength of the recommendations.

Since the 2009 Lancet Health in South Africa Series, important changes have occurred in the country, resulting in an
increase in life expectancy to 60 years. Historical injustices together with the disastrous health policies of the previous
administration are being transformed. The change in leadership of the Ministry of Health has been key, but new
momentum is inhibited by stasis within the health management bureaucracy. Specific policy and programme changes
are evident for all four of the so-called colliding epidemics: HIV and tuberculosis; chronic illness and mental health;
injury and violence; and maternal, neonatal, and child health. South Africa now has the world’s largest programme of

he report features information about the noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) situation in 193 countries. This includes details of what proportion of each country's deaths are due to diseases such as cancer, heart and lung diseases, and diabetes.

Using graphs, on a page-per country presentation format, the report provides information on prevalence, trends in metabolic risk factors (cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index and blood sugar) alongside data on the country's capacity to address the challenges posed by NCDs. Countries will be able to benchmark progress to date and determine where more efforts are needed.

Since 1995, the South African Health Review (SAHR) has been an annual publication of the Health Systems Trust. Viewed as an authoritative and comprehensive publication, the SAHR provides a current and longer-term review of health policy developments and their implementation in South Africa, and monitors changes and challenges in the provision of equitable and accessible health care in the country.