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Practical Strategies for Improving Sustainability and Scale-up of Noncommunicable Disease-related Public Health Interventions: Lessons from the Better Health Program in Southeast Asia

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posted on 2024-02-29, 22:53 authored by Tilahun HareguTilahun Haregu, Shiang Cheng Lim, Marcia Miranda, Cong Tuan Pham, Nam Nguyen, Inthira Suya, Rogelio Ilagan, Amphika Poowanasatien, Paul Kowal, Brian OldenburgBrian Oldenburg
Introduction: The Better Health Program has been addressing key health system issues in the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. As the program comes to an end, the sustainability and scaling-up of issues have assumed importance. Objectives: The objective is to assess how well sustainability and scale-up strategies have been integrated into the design and implementation of a 3-year multicountry technical program; to explore enablers and barriers of sustainability and scaling up; and to identify practical strategies that can improve sustainability and scale-up of Better Health Program interventions. Methods: We applied a staged approach to explore barriers and enablers and to identify practical strategies to improve sustainability and scale-up of four NCD interventions: community-based obesity prevention, front-of-pack labeling, local learning networks (LLNs), and NCD surveillance. We extracted evidence from peer-reviewed literature and local documents. We also conducted in-depth interviews with the implementation teams and key stakeholders. We conducted a thematic synthesis of the resulting information to identify practical strategies that improve sustainability and scale-up of the four interventions. Results: Strong engagement of stakeholders at higher levels of the health system was identified as the main enabler, while limited funding and commitment from local governments were identified as a key barrier to sustainability and scale-up. Strengthening the social and institutional anchors of community health volunteers, enhancing evidence-based advocacy for front-of-pack labeling, trailblazing the LLN innovation, and securing the commitment of local governments in the implementation of NCD surveillance were among the key strategies for improving sustainability and scale-up of Better Health Program interventions in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam, respectively. Conclusions: This study identified practical strategies for improving sustainability and scale-up of NCD-related interventions. Implementation of the strategies that had high priority and feasibility will improve the sustainability of critical elements of the program in the respective countries.

History

Publication Date

2023-01-01

Journal

WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health

Volume

12

Issue

1

Pagination

15-37

Publisher

Wolters Kluwer - Medknow

ISSN

2224-3151

Rights Statement

© 2023 WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow on behalf of WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‑NonCommercial‑ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non‑commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

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