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A £10m grant has established the NIHR Global Health Research Centre on Non-Communicable Diseases and Environmental Change.
The Centre, a partnership led by Imperial College London and The George Institute for Global Health India, will work to tackle the dual challenge of a rapidly growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and global environmental change in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
LMICs face unique challenges in delivering equitable, high-quality primary care services for the prevention and treatment of NCDs such as diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and mental health. This is especially true among marginalised populations that are affected by - or have migrated due to - environmental risks and exposures including air pollution, flooding, and heatwaves. The Centre will focus on populations in Bangladesh, Indonesia and India which are amongst the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change on health.
Despite an increased recognition of a need for action there is limited evidence on cost-effective interventions to address major challenges emerging at the intersection of NCDs and environmental change in LMICs.
Professor Vivekanand Jha, co-lead of the Centre and Executive Director of The George Institute for Global Health, India remarked: “LMICs face dual, intertwined challenges of a rapidly growing burden of NCDs and the existential threat of global environmental change. Our Centre will focus on three major challenges at the interface of NCDs and environmental change - air pollution, water salinity and food systems and generate actionable evidence for improving health outcomes and reducing inequities in a cost-effective manner”,
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Centre for NCDs and Environmental Change includes an interdisciplinary group of academics from the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Research (Bangladesh), Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research (India), and University of Brawijaya (Indonesia), who will work to address specific health concerns related to environmental change.
