The Knowledge Translation Unit (“KTU”) is a clinical research unit within the University of Cape Town Lung Institute (“UCTLI”) which has spent 15 years developing the Practical Approach to Care Kit (“PACK programme”) to support and empower nurses, doctors and other health workers working in primary healthcare.

PACK Adult is a comprehensive clinical practice guideline that aims at equipping nurses and other clinicians to diagnose and manage common adult conditions at primary level. The starting point is any of 40 common symptoms, each of which provides the opportunity to identify one or more of 20 important chronic conditions in the second half of the guideline. These include infectious diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular risk, hypertension and diabetes, mental health conditions, musculoskeletal disorders, epilepsy and women’s health. See sample pages and contents pages below.

BMJ has partnered with the KTU to make the PACK programme available to assist in improving primary care services worldwide, and especially in underserved communities (http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2016/01/14/tracey-eastman-on-pack-the-practical-approach-to-care-kit/). The BMJ is currently working alongside the Nigerian National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to pilot the PACK Adult within the context of the Nigeria State Health Investment Project (NSHIP), a performance-based financing programme aimed at strengthening the primary health care system in Nigeria, through increased access to high quality health care services.