Building Iraq capacity for IMCI training
Following the standard IMCI training course for 24 Iraqi physicians held in Amman last May using the Iraq adapted version of IMCI clinical guidelines and materials, a number of events were organized by the Child and Adolescent Health and Development unit (CAH) of the Regional office, in close collaboration with Iraqi Ministry of Health and the WHO country office for Iraq and assistance from the Ministry of Health and Population, Egypt, to develop local capacity for conducting IMCI training courses and follow-up visits after training in Iraq. A total of 11 Iraqi participants, selected among those who had attended the standard IMCI course in May, from 5 governorates in Iraq attended an intensive 5-day training course on facilitation skills to master IMCI training techniques, in Cairo, from 11 to 15 September 2005, followed by a 2-day training course on IMCI follow-up visit methodology and field visits to IMCI-implementing facilities in Egypt.
The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
On 12 September 2005, a new partnership was formally launched, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH). This partnership, hosted in the World Health Organization premises in Geneva, brought together the three main partnerships which dealt with maternal, newborn and child health, namely the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health, the Healthy Newborn Partnership and the Child Survival Partnership. With the creation of PMNCH, the previous three partnerships were dissolved. To read more about PMNCH, visit its website.
Progress of IMCI implementation in Afghanistan
The “Early Implementation Phase” of the IMCI strategy was completed in Afghanistan in October 2004 and the experience was formally reviewed in collaboration with WHO in December 2004. Since then, IMCI implementation has been expanding at a fast speed in the first 6 months of 2005, with IMCI training provided to health providers of almost a third of outpatient health facilities in the country. Many partners are involved in this effort.