The National Institute for Health and Care Research has funded the Centre for Chronic Disease Control and the University of Leicester to establish a Global Health Research Centre for Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MLTCs). MLTCs are commonly defined as the co-existence of two or more long-term conditions, each of which is a long-term physical (e.g., diabetes), mental (e.g., depression) or infectious disease (hepatitis C). According to recent community surveys from India, the prevalence of MLTCs ranges from 9.4% to 65%. Age, female gender, lower socioeconomic status and physical inactivity are main risk factors for MLTCs. For more information on MLTCs, please see the editorial entitled “Multimorbidity or multiple long-term conditions: need for bridging the evidence & care gaps to address an emerging priority public health issue in India.”

Despite its growing burden, MLTCs have received minimal recognition from healthcare providers and policymakers. Health systems are still focused on individual disease management rather than having an integrated care model, resulting in the delivery of fragmented and inefficient care. The Centre aims to address some of these issues via co- designing, implementing and evaluating a patient-centered health system intervention comprising a decision support system, assisted telemedicine, and patient-facing application.

The fully funded one-year master’s programme will be embedded within the Centre. The candidate will be required to be affiliated with/join the Centre for Chronic Disease Control before starting the master’s programme. The candidate will be based in India and will either travel to the University for the on-campus programme or remain in India and be affiliated with the institution for the online master’s programme. The candidate will complete the programme based on the specific course into which they are selected or to which they apply. The master’s degree will be awarded by the respective collaborating UK based universities mentioned below.