Stakeholders have renewed calls for accelerated action to improve access to quality care for severe chronic diseases across Africa as the continent works towards achieving the 2030 global noncommunicable disease (NCD) targets.

The renewed commitment was made at the Third International Conference on PEN-Plus in Africa (ICPPA 2026), hosted in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, where delegates called for stronger political leadership, increased domestic investment and expanded access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and long-term care, particularly for childhood-onset severe NCDs.

Stakeholders also reaffirmed support for scaling up PEN-Plus, an African-led model that decentralises care for severe NCDs by bringing advanced diagnosis and treatment to first-level referral hospitals. They noted that 20 countries in the WHO African Region are either initiating or implementing the programme to expand access to specialised services closer to where patients live.

The conference reviewed progress made in implementing PEN-Plus, shared lessons from participating countries and explored strategies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.

PEN-Plus is an integrated healthcare strategy that decentralises chronic care for severe, life-threatening noncommunicable diseases from major urban hospitals to first-level district and rural referral facilities, bringing specialised care closer to underserved communities.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, warned that despite growing efforts to strengthen NCD care, access to specialised services remains limited across much of sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the WHO, more than 100 million people in the region are living with severe chronic diseases, including type 1 diabetes, rheumatic and congenital heart disease, sickle cell disease and cancer. However, specialised care remains concentrated in major cities, leaving millions of people in rural and low-resource communities without access to life-saving diagnosis and treatment.

The agency stressed that the time for action is now, urging African countries to strengthen health systems, increase investment and expand innovative models such as PEN-Plus to accelerate progress towards the 2030 NCD targets while ensuring millions of people living with severe chronic diseases receive quality care closer to their communities.

Janabi described PEN-Plus as an African solution developed to respond to the continent’s health realities. He said the conference provided an opportunity for African countries to speak with one voice on health investment and the future of noncommunicable disease services.

He urged governments to commit greater and sustained resources to tackling NCDs, stressing that scaling up integrated approaches such as PEN-Plus would ensure people living with severe chronic diseases receive the life-saving care they deserve.

Janabi maintained that Africa must invest more in addressing noncommunicable diseases through adequate and sustainable financing, noting that strengthening integrated service delivery would improve access to quality care for millions of patients across the continent.

The delegates agreed that achieving meaningful progress towards the 2030 targets would require stronger health financing, multisectoral collaboration and intensified efforts to address major NCD risk factors, including tobacco use, harmful alcohol consumption, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and air pollution.

They also committed to increasing domestic investment in NCD prevention and care, recognising the growing burden severe chronic diseases place on individuals, families, health systems and national economies.