NCD Prevention Services

Mauritania had the highest blood pressure measurement unmet need among the study countries, with more than half of women never having had their blood pressure checked. India's National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke has helped expand screening coverage, though coverage and quality remain uneven. Blood pressure measurement had the lowest NCD unmet need rate because it is routinely integrated into primary care contacts. Blood glucose testing has a higher unmet need rate than blood pressure because it requires specialized equipment, supply chains, and trained staff that are frequently scarce in low-resource settings. Cervical cancer screening is the largest single driver of the near-universal NCD unmet need figures observed in the study. The COVID-19 pandemic likely disrupted diagnostic supply chains in Madagascar, further worsening NCD screening gaps beyond structural deficiencies.