NCD service disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Americas Region, 2020–2021
| Countries (%) | Comparison of countries (%) in 2020 and in 2021 | ||
| 2021 (n=35 countries) | 2020 (n=29 countries) | 2021 (n=29 countries) | |
| Redirected NCD resources | |||
| Staff reassigned/deployed to COVID-19 response | |||
| Some staff partially reassigned | 40 (14/35) | 38 (11/29) | 48 (14/29) |
| Some staff fully reassigned | 26 (9/35) | 21 (6/29) | 31 (9/29) |
| All staff partially reassigned | 20 (7/35) | 31 (9/29) | 28 (8/29) |
| All staff fully reassigned | 6 (2/35) | 7 (2/29) | 7 (2/29) |
| No staff reassigned | 6 (2/35) | 3 (1/29) | 7 (2/29) |
| Don’t know | 3 (1/35) | 0 (0/29) | 3 (1/29) |
| Government NCD funds allocated to support COVID-19 response | |||
| None or not yet | 29 (10/35) | 59 (17/29) | 31 (9/29) |
| Don’t know | 49 (17/35) | 34 (10/29) | 48 (14/29) |
| 1%–25% | 14 (5/35) | 0 (0/29) | 10 (3/29) |
| 26%–50% | 3 (1/35) | 0 (0/29) | 3 (1/29) |
| 51%–75% | 6 (2/35) | 3 (1/29) | 7 (2/29) |
| 76%–100% | 0 (0/35) | 3 (1/29) | 0 (0/29) |
| NCD services included in COVID-19 response | |||
| NCD services included as part of the list of essential health services in the COVID-19 plan | |||
| Cardiovascular disease services | 95 (20/21) | N/A | N/A |
| Cancer services | 86 (18/21) | N/A | N/A |
| Diabetes services | 100 (21/21) | N/A | N/A |
| Chronic respiratory disease services | 86 (12/21) | N/A | N/A |
| Chronic kidney disease and dialysis services | 0 (0/35) | N/A | N/A |
| Tobacco cessation services | 48 (10/21) | N/A | N/A |
| Other | 14 (3/21) | N/A | N/A |
| Additional funding allocated for NCDs | 26 (9/35) | 10 (3/29) | 10 (3/29) |
| NCD activities postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||
| None | 11 (4/35) | 17 (5/29) | 10 (3/29) |
| Implementation of NCD surveys | 40 (14/35) | 55 (16/29) | 45 (13/29) |
| Public screening programmes for NCDs | 51 (18/35) | 45 (13/29) | 48 (14/29) |
| WHO PEN package implementation* | 23 (8/35) | 21 (6/29) | 24 (7/29) |
| WHO HEARTS package† implementation | 29 (10/35) | 31 (9/29) | 31 (9/29) |
| Mass communication campaigns | 34 (12/35) | 24 (7/29) | 34 (10/29) |
| Other | 11 (4/35) | 24 (7/29) | 10 (3/29) |
WHO NCD Country Capacity Survey, 2019–2021. Round 1 (R1) conducted in 2020 and Round 2 (R2) conducted in 2021. Data for comparison not available between 2020 and 2021.
*WHO PEN package is a set of essential primary care interventions for the main NCDs, and can be found here: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240009226.
†WHO Hearts package is the primary care interventions to improve hypertension diagnosis, treatment and control and can be found here: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240001367.
N/A, not applicable; NCD, non-communicable disease.