In May, the NCDI Poverty Network, in partnership with the Rwanda Ministry of Health and with support from Team Heart, launched a national Cardiac Technical Working Group. The event brought together all major cardiac partners—including representatives of the World Health Organization’s country office and Rwanda’s major academic institutions—to participate in the certification of PEN-Plus cardiac Master Trainers and engage in a discussion for its implications and further planning at the national level.

In March and May, the Ministry of Health of Rwanda offered two weeks of practical training for 24 nurses and doctors from a dozen PEN-Plus district hospitals. The training, which was offered in partnership with Team Heart, Partners in Health Rwanda, and the NCDI Poverty Network, focused on developing the skills needed to diagnose and treat heart failure in rural district hospitals.

In May, eight PEN-Plus providers in Zimbabwe received initial training in performing and interpreting echocardiograms. Those eight providers—along seven others—were also trained in managing heart failure.

On 2 June 2023, Mozambique Minister of Health H.E. Dr. Armindo Daniel Tiago visited the PEN-Plus clinic at Nhamatanda Rural Hospital.