The regional consultation for Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) of the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Middle East and North Africa Region of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was held in Alexandria, Egypt, from 19 to 23 November 2000.
The objectives of the consultation were to:
- review experience with the IMCI early implementation phase in countries of the Region (including field visits)
- discuss initial experience of IMCI expansion and development of IMCI pre-service andcommunity approaches
- further strengthen partners’ coordination and support of IMCI activities in the Region
- address main IMCI regional challenges.
Considerable progress has been made within countries of the Region to adopt and implement all aspects of the IMCI strategy.The IMCI strategy has proven to be flexible and meet the diverse needs and development goals of countries in the Region.The experience of countries has demonstrated that IMCI is not a new vertical programme but an approach to improve quality of health care for children in the health system and in the home, building upon existing programmes and interventions.