CDIA annual meeting review highlights wide-ranging portfolio of research projects

24 Aug 2015
24 Aug 2015

The Chronic Diseases Initiative for Africa (CDIA) held a very successful 5th annual meeting in Cape Town during the first quarter of 2015. The two-day event at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) was attended by 23 members, 8 postgraduate students and 28 individuals with an interest in research on non-communicable diseases from across the country. There were over 33 presentations focusing on the burden of non-communicable diseases and their risk factors, health promotion, behaviour change interventions, health services as well as presentations of new research projects being undertaken by CDIA members. It was encouraging to see that the CDIA related research projects are addressing national and regional relevant questions.

Presentations from the Medical Research Council’s second Burden of Disease Study illustrated the NCD mortality trends between 1997 and 2010. A systematic review across African studies published between 2000 and 2013 revealed that 14.1% of people 55 years and older was found to have diabetes.

The results of a number of CDIA’s intervention studies illustrated how the wide range of topics addressed could contribute to improve the quality of care for patients with chronic diseases. These included the implementation of ‘Primary Care 101’, the impact of using mobile telephone messaging on the control of hypertension in a disadvantaged community and the value of training for nurses and family medicine clinicians in brief behaviour change counselling to strengthen their interactions with patients.

The value of the CDIA research network’s contribution was well illustrated at this meeting.