title: Health information priorities for more effective implementation and monitoring of non-communicable disease programs in low- and middle-income countries: lessons from the Pacific.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) place enormous burdens on individuals and health systems. While there has been significant global progress to guide the development of national NCD monitoring programs, many countries still struggle to adequately establish critical information systems to prioritise NCD control approaches.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this paper, we use the recent experience of the Pacific as a case study to highlight four key lessons about prioritising strategies for health information system development for monitoring NCDs: first, NCD interventions must be chosen strategically, taking into account local disease burden and capacities; second, NCD monitoring efforts must align with those interventions so as to be capable of evaluating progress; third, in order to ensure efficiency and sustainability, NCD monitoring strategies must be integrated into existing health information systems; finally, countries should monitor the implementation of key policies to control food and tobacco industries. Prioritising NCD interventions to suit local needs is critical and should be accompanied by careful consideration of the most appropriate and feasible monitoring strategies to track and evaluate progress.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. h.gouda@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Hebe N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Gouda
authors.forename: Nicola C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. r.beaglehole@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beaglehole
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. r.bonita@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bonita
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. alan.lopez@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Alan D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Lopez