a Head of WHO Samoa Country Office , World Health Organization , Apia , Samoa.
b Associate Minister , Ministry of Health, Apia , Samoa.
Health Syst Reform. 2019;5(1):78-82. doi: 10.1080/23288604.2018.1539062.
The increasing prevalence of NCDs such as cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes and kidney failure represents a threat to sustainable development in Samoa. The aim of this commentary is to describe the important role played by women in the community in relation to public health and to detail the lessons learnt and results of a community-based NCD prevention and management package that utilizes the strengths of community engagement at primary care level to accelerate progress towards UHC. The impetus of reforms in Samoa is to strengthen community-based care and rebuild its foundation-Primary Health Care (PHC). In doing so, the government is reinvigorating the role of women's village committees in identifying and referring people with high risks factors for non-communicable diseases. In 2015, an attempt to reinvigorate the role of Komiti Tumama in health was undertaken to address the high burden of non-communicable diseases. The government together with WHO launched a demonstration project, "NCD early detection and self-management through community participation (PEN Fa'a Samoa)", which aimed to address key issues on NCDs through an approach of contextualizing universal health coverage. Preliminary results of the program implementation are positive. PEN Fa'a Samoa achieved a high level of population screening coverage in the demonstration villages, in which the women's committee representatives played a key role. Samoa has shown in this example how such action can strengthen its health system, by utilizing critical human resources at a community level, which have proven to be essential to support the functioning of health services.
心血管疾病、糖尿病和肾衰竭等非传染性疾病的发病率不断上升，对萨摩亚的可持续发展构成了威胁。本文的目的是描述妇女在社区中在公共卫生方面所发挥的重要作用，并详细介绍在社区为基础的非传染性疾病预防和管理一揽子计划中吸取的经验教训和取得的成果，该计划利用社区参与初级保健一级的优势，加速全民健康覆盖的进展。萨摩亚改革的动力是加强社区护理和重建其初级卫生保健的基础。为此，政府正在重振妇女村委员会在确定和转介具有非传染性疾病高风险因素的人的作用。2015 年，为了重振 Komiti Tumama 在卫生方面的作用，以解决非传染性疾病的高负担，政府与世界卫生组织一起发起了一个示范项目，即“通过社区参与进行非传染性疾病早期发现和自我管理（PEN Fa'a Samoa）”，该项目旨在通过将全民健康覆盖纳入具体情况的方法来解决非传染性疾病的关键问题。该方案执行的初步结果是积极的。PEN Fa'a Samoa 在示范村实现了高水平的人口筛查覆盖率，妇女委员会代表在其中发挥了关键作用。萨摩亚在这一例子中展示了这种行动如何能够加强其卫生系统，利用社区一级的关键人力资源，这些资源被证明对支持卫生服务的运作至关重要。
