The Regional Director announces IMCI strategy as the primary child health care strategy for children under-five in the Region
18 September 2007

The announcement by Dr  Hussein A. Gezairy, the WHO Regional Director for the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, was made on 2 September 2007 at the opening of the Regional IMCI Coordinators’ Meeting held in Amman, Jordan: “Given its crucial role in promoting the health and development of children and its ability to respond to evolving needs, I am pleased to announce today that IMCI is adopted by the Regional Office as the primary child health care strategy, offering a wide range of interventions under its overall umbrella. I invite countries to see IMCI within this vision, and not as a vertical training programme, and to commit increased resources for it to achieve the child mortality-related Millennium Development Goal no. 4. I am also reiterating today our firm commitment to improve child health in the Region and to the implementation of the IMCI strategy, through continued close collaboration and provision of all necessary technical support to Member States.” Dr Gezairy also emphasized the evolution of the IMCI strategy in the Region: “IMCI has evolved in our Region from the initial focus on survival to the more comprehensive one of health and development, in accordance with its original conceptual framework. This framework, in line with primary health care principles, emphasizes not only curative care but also preventive care and health promotion. This is, in fact, what IMCI is: primary child health care. IMCI is essential, integrated child care at primary health care level to address the main issues of children under five. It relies on scientifically sound methods, affordable technology and cost-effective interventions. It is flexible and dynamic in order to adapt and respond to different needs. It advocates for community leadership through its community component.