Executive Summary: The Blueprint for Innovative Healthcare Access program (Blueprint program) launched in 2019 to improve survival and quality of life for people impacted by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – diabetes, hypertension, and cancer – in Meru County, Kenya, by strengthening high-quality, integrated, and consistent local healthcare capacity and capabilities across the patient journey. A consortium of seven partners implemented activities over the course of three years to achieve eight collective impact objectives:
- Strengthen health system delivery capacity
- Increase community awareness of NCDs
- Improve access to and utilization of health services
- Improve earlier detection of NCDs
- Improve disease surveillance and research to facilitate evidence-based decision making
- Improve availability of NCD products and technologies
- Increase funding for NCDs in Meru County budget
- Improve quality of life for Meru residents with NCDs
Meru County’s population of 1.54 million face a growing burden of NCDs amongst an increasingly expanding adult population. In 2019/2020, according to the Meru County Government Department of Health, nearly 116,000 cases of hypertension, diabetes, and cancer were reported in Meru, with hypertension rapidly becoming the most prevalent NCD in the county. The Blueprint program worked with the county government to build the capacity of healthcare facilities to address NCDs across Meru County and enhance the health workforce for NCDs at each level of the health system.