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Background: In Kenya, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) accounted for more than 10% of total deaths and 4% of total Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) in 2015 with a steady increase over the past decade. The main objective of this paper was to review the existing policies and their content in relation to prevention, control and management of CVDs at primary health care (PHC) level in Kenya., Methods: A targeted document search in Google engine using keywords "Kenya national policy on cardiovascular diseases" and "Kenya national policy on non-communicable diseases (NCDs)" was conducted in addition to key informant interviews with Kenyan policy makers. Relevant regional and international policy documents were also included. The contents of documents identified were reviewed to assess how well they aligned with global health policies on CVD prevention, control and management. Thematic content analysis of the key informant interviews was also conducted to supplement the document reviews., Results: A total of 17 documents were reviewed and three key informants interviewed. Besides the Tobacco Control Act (2007), all policy documents for CVD prevention, control and management were developed after 2013. The national policies were preceded by global initiatives and guidelines and were similar in content with the global policies. The Kenya health policy (2014-2030), The Kenya Health Sector Strategic and Investment Plan (2014-2018) and the Kenya National Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable diseases (2015-2020) had strategies on NCDs including CVDs. Other policy documents for behavioral risk factors (The Tobacco Control Act 2007, Alcoholic Drinks Control (Licensing) Regulations (2010)) were available. The National Nutrition Action Plan (2012-2017) was available as a draft. Although Kenya has a tiered health care system comprising primary healthcare, integration of CVD prevention and control at PHC level was not explicitly mentioned in the policy documents., Conclusion: This review revealed important gaps in the policy environment for prevention, control and management of CVDs in PHC settings in Kenya. There is need to continuously engage the ministry of health and other sectors to prioritize inclusion of CVD services in PHC.

Background: diabetes is well studied in Saudi Arabia; however, there seems to be little research in the area of awareness, education and health care delivery. Objectives: to assess the awareness about diabetes mellitus among attendees of primary health care centers, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Subjects and Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted among a representative random sample of adult attendees of primary health care centers (diabetic and non-diabetics), Makkah Al-Mokkaramah, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the study period (1-31 November, 2016). An Arabic self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. It includes 31 questions with sections of demographic data, community awareness regarding diabetes definition, risk factors, signs and symptoms, and complications community awareness regarding diabetes prevention. Results: the study included 662 adult patients. Approximately one-third of them (32.2%) aged 60 years or more. Females represent 51.1% of them. More than one-fifth of them (21%) were university graduated whereas 6.3% were illiterates. Prevalence of diabetes among the participants was 33.7% and majority of them (97.9%) had family history of diabetes. The most frequent sources were mass media (57.4%), health sector (29.9%) and educational sector (10.6%). Overall sufficient awareness regarding diabetes mellitus was reported among majority of the participants (91.2%). Among studied factors, only marital status and income were significantly associated with sufficient awareness. Conclusion: population in Makkah AL-Mokkaramah has enough knowledge of the general knowledge of diabetes regarding risk factors, symptoms, etc. However, they are not very well aware of the diabetes associated secondary complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]