Chronic conditions are by far the leading cause of mortality, illness and disability globally, affecting quality of life and increasing poverty in low-, middle- and high-income countries. They are also a major driver of health care costs. Chronic conditions are characterised by being long-lasting and include both NCDs (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers, respiratory diseases, and renal diseases), chronic communicable diseases such as TB and HIV/AIDS, and also mental health. Multiple chronic conditions often cluster at the individual and population levels, requiring comprehensive and integrated approaches to their prevention, treatment and management.
- About the Centre
- Strategic aims
- To promote research excellence and methodological innovation.
- To facilitate collaboration within and beyond the School.
- To promote the visibility of the School’s work on chronic conditions in the public and political domains and support policy and public engagement for action.
- Centre themes
- Quantifying the problem - Epidemiology of chronic conditions.
- Explaining the problem - Modifiable upstream determinants and socioeconomic impacts related to chronic conditions.
- Acting on the problem - Policies, health systems response, and implementation science for addressing chronic conditions.
- Approaches
The key approaches followed by the Centre include:
- Multi-disciplinary research to examine the challenges posed by global chronic conditions, including complex intervention evaluation and complex systems thinking.
- A comprehensive scope from aetiology and prevention to management of chronic conditions.
- Improving the quality of data related to chronic conditions.
- International comparisons and collaborations to promote transnational learning across low, middle and high-income countries; including promotion of South-to-South collaboration.
- Promotion of research and learning across chronic conditions, including mental health and chronic communicable diseases.
- Focus on particularly vulnerable groups such as migrant populations and those affected by humanitarian crises and large-scale social change.
- Promotion of innovation across Centre activities (with a particular focus on the use of information and communication technology, or eHealth).
- Leadership