The workshop was held with the objectives of gathering researchers and health system specialists working on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, to identify knowledge gaps about implementation, and effects of policies that aim to address the coverage gaps in NCDs healthcare. It was a great opportunity to showcase our r4d project and our findings to a larger community of researchers and stakeholders, including the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research.
In addition to the above, the workshop also gathered important feedback on research from policymakers with the aim of developing research agenda to address knowledge gaps. The activity helped in identifying knowledge gaps that impede the design of policies necessary to secure more effective and equitable NCD screening and management, and called for a tighter collaboration between policy makers and the scientific community.
Prof. Maurer kicking off our r4d workshop on NCD healthcare in LMICs on Oct 27 at the University of Lausanne. 
Prof. O’Donnell talking about the evidence on inequality in cardiovascular risks and prevention that was produced thanks to our r4d project. 
Nilmini Wijemanne (PhD candidate at Erasmus University) presented her recent work on CVD screening effectiveness in Sri Lanka and the policy recommendations that result from her research. Her findings show that it would be cost-effective to reduce the CVD risk threshold for the prescription of statins in Sri Lanka. 
Prof. Capuno from the University of the Philippines talked about CVD prevention & insurance coverage in the Philippines. 
Prof. Mohanty from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) in Mumbai, India, presented some of his research on the determinants of diagnosis and treatment of chronic condition among older adults in India. 
Prof. Kohler from the University of Pennsylvania talking about gaps in hypertension prevention and management in Malawi. 
Dr. Rannan-Eliya describing the impressive data collection that he and his team managed to put in place to study chronic disease, healthcare use, financial protection and disability in Sri Lanka. The result of this study will look for gaps in the prevention and management of chronic diseases and assess the economic impact of disease and potential interventions, which will help inform policy makers to improve the SDG of good health and well-being. 
Dr Robert Marten, from the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, talking about implementation research on NCD management in LMICs. 
Toomas Palu, Adviser on Global Health Coordination in the World Bank, discussing financial protection and possible ways forward to address coverage gap issues. 
Dr Flores from World Health Organization talking about what we know and don’t know about NCDs when tracking financial protection in health. 
Breakout sessions on data and implementation research to foster discussion about developing research agenda to address current knowledge gaps in NCD healthcare coverage.
Inclusive social protection for chronic health problems 