Integrating injuries into noncommunicable disease prevention: a case study from Pakistan.
Injuries in Pakistan take a considerable toll on individuals, families and health systems. Recently, as part of the National Action Plan for Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention, Control and Health Promotion in Pakistan (NAP-NCD), injuries have been grouped alongside other noncommunicable diseases. The NAP-NCD is a public-private tripartite collaborative programme of an NGO Heartfile, the Ministry of Health, Government of Pakistan and the WHO Pakistan office. The NAP-NCD adopts an integrated approach and addresses the multidisciplinary range of issues within a prevention and control framework across the broad range of NCDs, albeit with an expanded definition. This paper discusses NAP-NCD's integrated approach to injury prevention and takes the form of a case study from Pakistan. The approach embodied in the Action Plan is grounded in the principle that decisions people make about healthy choices are shaped by the physical, social, economic and legal environment. It, therefore, has a comprehensive configuration with evidence-based policy and action-oriented dimensions calling for a change at the institutional, community and public policy levels.
Nishtar
Sania
S
President Heartfile, 1 Chak Shahzad, Islamabad, Pakistan. Sania@heartfile.org
D000056:Accident Prevention; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated; D003906:Developing Countries; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D010154:Pakistan; D011322:Primary Prevention; D012449:Safety; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*