Health is the outcome of all policies, including those related to social determinants of health, gender and equity, nutrition, injury prevention and disabilities. In 2015, WHO continued its efforts to protect and promote the health, safety and well-being of the population in the Region, across the life course. From conception to old age, diverse population health needs were addressed, while focusing on maternal and child health as a strategic priority.
Maternal, reproductive and child health
Considerable progress was achieved towards Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Between 1990 and 2015, maternal mortality ratio decreased from 362 to 166 per 100 000 live births, and under-5 child mortality rate from 181 to 91 per 1000 live births (see Fig. 1 and 2). Eight countries achieved MDG 4 and three achieved MDG 5. Following the regional initiative on saving the lives of mothers and children, launched in 2013, the reduction in maternal mortality ratio improved by 12 points from 42% (2012) to 54% (2015).
Source: Trends in maternal mortality: 1990-2015. Estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and the United Nations Population Division. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2015.
Fig. 1 Regional trend in maternal mortality, 1990–2015
Source: Levels and trends in child mortality. Report 2015. Estimates developed by the UN inter-agency group for child mortality estimation. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2015.
Fig. 2 Regional trends in child and newborn mortality, 1990–2015
The high levels of maternal, newborn and child mortality at regional level are mainly due to weak health systems. There are insufficient numbers of well trained human resources, essential drugs and commodities are often lacking or inadequate, referral systems do not function well and the quality of care for mothers and children at the referral hospitals is inadequate. Most national programmes do not target the main causes of maternal, neonatal, and child death by implementing the evidence-based, cost-effective and high impact interventions (best buys) that are available to them. Political will and commitment to maternal and child health need are not always translated into concrete action and financing mechanisms to ensure universal coverage with maternal and child health services are inadequate. The situation is most critical in the countries affected by political instability, social unrest, acute and chronic protracted crises.
WHO maintained its support to reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health, with specific focus on addressing the main causes of maternal, neonatal, child deaths and targeting quality of care. The regional initiative on saving the lives of mothers and children continued to target the main challenges in countries with a high burden of maternal and child deaths, jointly with UNFPA and UNICEF, and in close collaboration with Member States and key stakeholders. Launching the maternal and child health acceleration plans strengthened national ownership and leadership towards achieving the MDG targets, and prepared the way for the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To ensure the implementation of the acceleration plans was of sufficient quality and to address the gaps identified through the regional surveys, special attention was given to health system-related elements. These included access to and delivery of high impact interventions, the health workforce, assessment of quality and infection control services, and identifying knowledge gaps to be able to determine research priorities. Technical support to Member States was focused on building national capacity in strategic planning for the period 2016–2020 in line with the global strategy and the SDGs.
Priority was given to the adoption of key evidence-based, cost-effective and high impact interventions by all countries of the Region. At a meeting held jointly with UNFPA and UNICEF, national programme managers identified priority maternal, neonatal and child health and mental health interventions with high impact, focused on the health systems challenges to be addressed and determined strategic directions in preparation for the SDGs. The strategic directions are in line with the United Nations global strategy for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, endorsed by the UN General Assembly in September 2015. The following month, the Regional Committee (resolution EM/RC62/1) urged all Member States to develop or update national reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child health strategic plans in accordance with the global strategy.
Supporting countries in establishing and strengthening preconception care, as part of the continuum of care, is another priority that will further improve maternal, neonatal and child health outcomes in the Region. A meeting held with Member States, with support from UNFPA, UNICEF and international and regional experts, resulted in consensus on a set of core interventions, a regional operational framework and service delivery channels for preconception care. Further work was conducted during the year, which resulted in a regional package of evidence-based interventions and programmatic steps for promoting preconception care within countries. The package of preconception care is currently being integrated into a broader package that covers care during pregnancy and after birth with special focus on the prevention and care of common congenital disorders.
Reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health will continue to be a regional and national health priority in the post-2015 development agenda. WHO will focus on building capacity in countries to end preventable deaths among women, children and adolescents. Implementation of the United Nations global strategy on women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and the SDGs will require integrated and multisectoral approaches backed by well defined targets and sustainable financing mechanisms
Nutrition
The situation with regard to malnutrition in the Region has seen some general improvement since 1990 but the progress is insufficient and the situation remains very serious in many countries of the Region, including those suffering from major crises. Much more work is needed to ensure that all mothers and children in all countries are adequately nourished to maintain health and development. According to the latest data from WHO and other UN organizations, on average, the prevalence of undernourishment in the Region decreased from 22.1% in 1990 to 13.7% in 2014. Since 1990, 13 out of 22 countries of the Region have reached MDG 1 with regard to halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. The estimated prevalence of children under 5 years of age affected by stunting was reduced from 39.8% in 1990 to 16.9% in 2014 as a result of economic and social development, especially in high- and middle-income countries, while the estimated prevalence of wasting increased from 9.6% in 1991 to 10.1 % in 2011, due to natural and manmade disasters and political instability in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen.
In 2015, a regional roadmap was developed for countries to implement the global targets set by the World Health Assembly in 2012 and the recommendations of the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN-2). National strategies and/or national action plans for post-2015 were developed by most countries of the Region.
The regional policy statement on the urgent need to fully implement the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes was promoted. Most countries in emergency situations expanded the number of nutrition stabilization centres for treatment of severe and complex cases of malnutrition. Supplementation and food fortification with essential micronutrients are provided in almost all countries.
The Region continues to face major challenges in tackling nutrition issues. These include the lack of quality nutrition data and indicators, as well as of national capacity to support countries in data collection and analysis, and the need for effective nutrition surveillance and a monitoring and evaluation system to enable policy-making and programme implementation. Finally, the demand for action to address malnutrition is high, while the financial resources to do so are limited.
The Regional Office is working with countries to develop a regional framework to scale up action on nutrition, with focus on cost-effective interventions. Technical support is being provided to countries to establish national targets and monitor national action plans, promote interagency and multisectoral coordination, promote a healthy diet, as well as food and nutrition security, at national and regional levels, and introduce and apply innovative approaches for delivering effective nutrition actions, including implementation of food standards and WHO guidelines.
Health of special groups
The situation prevailing in several countries is exposing the life and well-being of many older persons and schoolchildren to various levels of risk, and their unmet needs and health status should be of great concern in the provision of health support during emergencies. Despite this, the health programmes concerned with these special groups face strong competition from many other priorities.
Nevertheless, several countries were active in reviewing the draft world report on ageing and health and providing case studies, as well as the draft global strategy and action plan on ageing and health. The regional launch of the world report was organized in collaboration with Sharjah Health Authority, United Arab Emirates, during the celebration of the International Day of Older Persons (1 October). The city of Sharjah is heading firmly towards being an age-friendly city. Several countries continued activities to build capacity and multisectoral collaboration in ageing and health.
Focusing on the school setting as an important entry point for health promotion throughout the life course, the active role of countries in institutionalization of the Global School Health Initiative was reviewed in a consultation for developing updated and evidence-based criteria and an executive framework for health promoting schools. The plan is to continue this work in 2016 and to launch the new criteria in a special initiative on health-promoting schools in 2017.
One of the important steps in the way forward is to put the unmet needs of older persons and schoolchildren at the centre of relief efforts and programmes in countries in emergency situations.
Violence, injuries and disabilities
In 2015 WHO published the Global status report on road safety 2015, which presented the most recent data from countries across the world, including the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The report showed that road traffic injury continues to be a grave concern in the Region despite the decrease in the regional road traffic fatality rate from 21.3 to 19.9 per 100 000 population between 2010 and 2013. This fatality rate remains higher than the global rate, and still puts the Eastern Mediterranean among the WHO regions with highest fatality rates. The vast majority of deaths occur in the middle-income countries. The overall death rate in the high-income countries exceeds that of the less affluent countries and is more than double the rate of other high-income countries in the world. Despite the gravity of the issue, serious gaps persist in the comprehensive implementation of proven cost-effective interventions based on a whole safe system approach. Some aspects of these interventions have been implemented in most countries in the Region. However they have not been implemented as a package that covers all essential elements, which seriously affects their effectiveness.
In addition, 2015 marked the mid-point in the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020 and two road safety-related targets were included in the SDGs. The Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety was endorsed by the Second Global High-level Conference on Road Safety, held in November 2015. This Declaration describes the global roadmap towards achieving the targets of the Decade of Action and the SDGs, which can only be achieved through concerted efforts across all countries.
WHO continued its efforts on different aspects of road traffic injury prevention and control from data to care. A standardized methodology for estimation of the cost of road traffic injuries was developed and piloted in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The regional instrument to profile trauma care systems was finalized based on piloting in Djibouti, Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan. A report documenting the exercise was prepared and peer-reviewed for publication; it recommends actions to address existing gaps and will pave the way for expansion of the exercise to other countries. A more comprehensive exercise for strengthening trauma care services was also done in Iraq.
A regional high-level ministerial meeting on road safety is planned for 2017, to increase political commitment and to agree on concrete actions for accelerated progress in the second half of the Decade of Action. In preparation, an expert consultation was held in January 2016 to review an in-depth analysis of the current burden road traffic injuries and related risk factors in the Region prepared by WHO with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Based on this analysis, experts will provide their views on the development of a specific framework for action at country level. This will guide the development of a resource document for the ministerial meeting outlining packages of essential cost-effective interventions for the three groups of countries in the Region, building on WHO related work, and taking into consideration recent global and regional developments.
In terms of child injury prevention, a literature review on child injuries in the Region was done. Based on this, the regional strategic framework for child and adolescent injury prevention was updated and finalized.
In the area of violence prevention, the Global status report on violence prevention 2014, in which 16 countries of the Region participated, revealed that the Region’s low- and middle-income countries rank third (7 per 100 000 population) in terms of homicide rate, among similar countries in all WHO regions. Many of the surveyed prevention strategies are available in participating countries of the Region. However their implementation has not been evaluated. A regional consultation was organized to review the draft global action plan for strengthening the health system’s role in addressing interpersonal violence, in particular against women and girls, and against children, to ensure that regional and country perspectives were reflected in the final version. Prior to the consultation, a preparatory coordination meeting was held with concerned United Nations agencies and the League of Arab States to initiate discussion on a sustainable regional inter-agency coordination mechanism for the implementation of the plan.
A number of major challenges confront effective violence and injury prevention and control. Declared political commitment is not always translated into sufficient action at country level. Enforcement, implementation and evaluation of policy and legislative frameworks are weak. Coordination and multisectoral action remain insufficient. Furthermore the adoption of a whole safe system approach is inadequate, with more focus needed on individual behaviour issues. In the area of disability, several countries developed national disability strategies and action plans. Thirteen countries participated in the global survey on developing the WHO priority list of assistive products. The subject will be discussed during the forthcoming session of the Regional Committee.
WHO continued to support countries in the prevention and management of avoidable blindness in line with WHO’s global initiative VISION 2020: The Right to Sight. Primary eye care activities are being integrated into the primary health care system in some countries and this is contributing to the decline in vision loss and visual impairment through early case finding, referral and eye health education. However, despite the the considerable burden of visual impairment in many countries of the Region and the increase in potentially blinding age-related eye diseases as people live longer, investment in blindness prevention remains low. Reaching the goal of eliminating avoidable blindness by 2020 will depend on the ability of health systems to scale up efforts
Health education and promotion
In 2015, WHO focused on building capacity in the development of multisectoral national plans of action on physical activity and of social marketing and mass media campaign plans. In partnership with the WHO Collaborating Centre on Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity, Sydney, Australia, a training package was developed on mass media and social marketing to support countries in implementation of the best buys related to promoting physical activity and healthy diet. Participants from both health and non-health sectors worked together to develop provisional social marketing and mass media plans which will be launched in 2016.
A toolkit was developed to guide the inclusion of physical activity in primary health care. The toolkit was developed through a systematic review and meta-analysis, which showed that primary health care is instrumental in promoting physical activity and thus it is crucial to ensure that primary health care services are adequately resourced and fit to play a major role in getting a population more active. The toolkit was reviewed by countries to ensure regional relevance and practicality based on country context. The next step is to pilot test the instrument in eight selected countries.
A bi-regional workshop to build legal capacity and advance action on the WHO recommendations on marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children was held in collaboration with the Regional Office for Europe, WHO headquarters and the University of Liverpool. Participants from nine countries attended and developed a provisional roadmap to advance actions in addressing marketing of unhealthy foods in their countries.
As part of an initiative to address unopposed marketing, a series of activities was organized to sensitize the non-health sector to the issue and obtain innovative ideas in creating a social movement. A key event was an open forum which was attended by mainstream media outlets, regional celebrities and media experts and representatives of civil society organizations, including Consumer International, and which resulted in a set of actions to be promoted to non-health sectors. The biggest challenges to health promotion concerns countries’ capacity to mobilize non-health sectors and work intersectorally to implement objectives, the need for research and advocacy, and the need to mobilize experts with legal backgrounds in support of the regional objectives. WHO will continue to build capacity to work with the different sectors.
Social determinants of health and gender
Focus continued to be placed on the implementation of the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health; effective integration of social determinants of health and gender within health programmes; and strengthening country capacity to implement health-in-all policies, intersectoral action and social participation to address social determinants of health and gender. Countries agreed to implement an action framework developed at a regional consultation on reducing inequalities through action on social determinants of health, organized in 2015. In this regard four countries conducted in-depth assessments with a view to developing action plans. The results of these assessments were presented to the Regional Committee which urged Member States to assess inequalities in health and their related social determinants, identify priority actions and monitor progress (resolution EM/RC62/R.1). Several countries have undertaken specific actions on social determinants of health.
Health and the environment
With the support of the Regional Centre for Environmental Health Action (CEHA), many countries implemented programmes and activities pertinent to health protection and the environment. Implementation of the regional strategy on health and environment and its framework of action (2014-2019) began, and several countries have taken concrete steps to develop their national strategic frameworks for action. Field missions to assess the environmental health situation and delineate priorities were undertaken in several countries.
The WHO guidelines on drinking-water quality and wastewater reuse were promoted. So far, 16 countries have updated their national standards for drinking-water quality in accordance with the guidelines, and Jordan issued national standards on irrigation water quality in line with the WHO guidelines on safe use of treated wastewater in agriculture. With WHO support, eight countries have adopted preventive water and sanitation safety management plans and 11 countries have published their national profiles under the framework of the UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Water. All countries are participating in the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme. The public health risk of natural radiation in groundwater is being tackled in two countries.
Member States of the Region participated in the negotiations and adoption of World Health Assembly resolution WHA68.8 on the health impact of air pollution, to discussions on the road map for implementation. The special air quality needs of the Region, such as the health impact of sand and airborne dust, were addressed in a regional meeting of experts with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Capacity-building was supported in the area of air pollution and health. In collaboration with the Jordan University of Science and Technology, CEHA reviewed and compiled the knowledge of all the countries of the Region in the fields of air pollution and climate change.
Joining the WHO delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP21, the Regional Office advocated with its Member States positioning of public health at the centre of climate change debate and contributed to the successful global agreement concluded in Paris in December 2015. Four countries developed, with WHO support, climate change and health national profiles which were presented at the Paris conference and several others are in process. A regional network of climate change and health experts was established.
The institutional capacity of countries in management of health care waste was strengthened and technical support extended to several countries. In response to the solid waste crisis in Lebanon, a series of technical consultations were held and briefings on solid waste management master planning, landfill assessment and public health impacts of refuse were shared with stakeholders. A scientific protocol to assess the potential health effects of solid waste, and interventions, on the population in Lebanon was finalized.
A regional food safety assessment initiative was launched and national profiling missions were conducted by WHO staff and experts in 15 countries and the results, which demonstrated major gaps, were presented to the Regional Committee. The aim was to assess strengths and weaknesses in the national food safety systems and to identify the priority actions required to address gaps identified. This “farm-to-fork” initiative will augment the capacity of countries to prevent, detect and manage foodborne health risks and outbreaks. WHO and countries are following up on the results and regional action plan to strengthen food safety systems is being developed.
Environmental health support was provided to all countries in emergency situations. Emergency support was provided in 10 countries, including a multi-stakeholder regional meeting; technical missions and training. CEHA established a regional revolving stock for environmental health supplies to support emergencies in the Region. Capacity-building was supported for health service providers in several countries on response to chemical accidents and trauma care. National preparedness and response capacities for chemical, radio-nuclear and food safety events were strengthened in line with the International Health Regulations (2005).
Strengthening health systems for universal health coverage
Universal health coverage
In 2016, the framework for action on advancing universal health coverage in the Eastern Mediterranean Region was updated. The framework provides a clear roadmap for Member States to transform their health systems to progress on the three dimensions of universal health coverage, and specifies the type of support that WHO and other development partners can provide.
In 2016, guided by the framework, five countries (Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia) took concrete steps to review and reform their health systems in line with the goals of universal health coverage. In addition, Sudan finalized several specific health strategies to reform the health system and endorsed the Khartoum Declaration on universal health coverage in January 2017. The framework also influenced the development of a framework for action for universal health coverage in Africa, developed jointly with the World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, the African Development Bank and others.
In 2016, the second round of the leadership for health programme took place, with 30 policy-makers and mid- and high-level managers from the Region taking part. The programme, developed in collaboration with the Harvard School of Public Health and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, aims to strengthen the leadership function of the ministries of health in the Region to pursue the health agenda, including universal health coverage.
Health financing
Functioning health financing systems are critical to achieve the goals of universal health coverage. Such systems are often compromised by insufficient public funding, lack of equitable financial protection and inefficient use of resources in the Region.
In 2016, WHO supported countries to identify ways to reform revenue raising, and pooling and purchasing arrangements. Attention focused on developing health financing strategies for universal health coverage. Nine countries were guided to develop their health financing strategies through capacity-building, in-depth analysis, experience-sharing and policy dialogue. Attention was also given to institutionalizing health accounting, with a focus on disease distribution. Training was provided to 16 countries on the system of health accounts 2011, including on estimating expenditure by disease groups. A new area of work was started to enhance alignment between public financial management and health financing, with a first assessment conducted in Sudan. Efforts were intensified to develop benefit packages for universal health coverage, as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Disease Control Priorities Network. A high-level policy forum was held to establish a region-specific list of highest priority interventions for countries to consider when developing their own essential health services packages.
In 2017, assessment of the health financing systems in the Region will continue in order to identify challenges and ways to tackle them. Development of universal health coverage packages and public financial management will also continue, with a focus on capacity-building and institutional development. Particular attention will be given to the health financing requirements of specific health programmes, including noncommunicable diseases, essential public health functions and emergencies.
Health governance and human rights
National health policies, strategies and plans guide a country to define its priorities for improving the health and well-being of its people and achieving universal health coverage. Ongoing efforts to evaluate the status of national health planning included an assessment of health policy and planning functions in the ministries of health in preparation for a workshop on health sector strategic planning. As part of the regional effort to encourage countries to adopt the Health-in-All-Policies approach to achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a related workshop is being planned in collaboration with the Social Research Center of the American University in Cairo. A main focus of the 2030 Agenda is leaving no one behind. Efforts are therefore being made to reinforce health equity and human rights in WHO work as part of the actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Weak health governance, accountability and transparency remain obstacles to strengthening health systems performance in the Region. In collaboration with the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States, the Regional Office is working to strengthen health system accountability and reduce the risk of corruption in the health sector. Additionally, a regional accountability assessment framework and capacity-building tool for enhancing accountability and governance functions of health systems has been developed.
To strengthen national capacities to support health legislation and regulation, an introductory course on the role of law in health system strengthening in the Region was developed and delivered to experts from five countries. In addition, in collaboration with the O’Neill Institute, Georgetown University, 10 priority legal interventions for noncommunicable diseases were identified and policy briefs were developed to be shared with the countries.
During 2017, focus will continue to be placed on adapting and applying the established know-how to the regional setting. Particular attention will be given to policy development and health legislation, capacity-building, and the integration of health equity and human rights in all policies and health programmes.
Global health initiatives
The global health initiatives collaborative work in the Region covers several areas: AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, immunization programmes, maternal and child health, tobacco use, human resources, emerging diseases, nutrition, health promotion and health system strengthening. The Global Fund and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance are the main institutions that provide substantial funding to eligible countries in the Region. Seven countries – Afghanistan, Djibouti, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen – are eligible for Gavi support on immunization and health system strengthening, and 12 are eligible for Global Fund grants, including the seven supported by Gavi.
Protracted social and political unrest in most grant-recipient countries continues to be a major challenge. Insecurity in many places hampers access to social services with the health sector being the worst affected, and the loss of human capital has severely weakened health services and systems in affected countries. Furthermore, global health initiatives have created parallel systems that undermine the holistic approach for health system development, and the principles of external aid, such as ownership and harmonization, are not adequately applied.
In 2016, in collaboration with the Global Fund, regional training was conducted to strengthen the role of country staff in securing partnership with the Global Fund. In addition, joint appraisal missions to Gavi-supported countries were carried out to review grant implementation, identify challenges, assess grant management and propose priorities for 2017.
In 2017, capacity development on an integrated approach for health system strengthening will be organized for relevant country focal points. The regional vision and strategy for strengthening partnerships for universal health coverage will be finalized. Support will be given to improving reports and records with a focus on country experiences with global health initiatives.
Health workforce development
Tackling health workforce challenges remains a pressing priority in the Region. Overall health workforce shortages continue in addition to concerns about the quality, relevance and performance of health workers. The need for an adequate and competent health workforce is acknowledged as a critical element in moving towards universal health coverage and achieving the SDGs.
To respond to the health workforce challenges in the Region, an action framework for health workforce development 2017–2030 has been developed and is being finalized to guide countries to enhance their health workforce. Capacity-building for health workforce governance was undertaken through a regional workshop organized in collaboration with the World Bank, and a health workforce planning and management workshop for Jordanian officials in Amman.
In 2016, further efforts were made to strengthen medical education through implementation of the framework for action on reforming medical education. An expert consultation on health profession education allowed further dissemination of the framework, highlighted the priorities and outlined the way forward. A regional guide for the development of nursing specialist practice in the Region was prepared which explains a nurse specialist, the educational requirements for designating a nursing specialty and the necessary regulatory mechanisms. At the country level, the Council of Accreditation for Medical Colleges in Iraq launched its national standards for accreditation of medical education in August 2016.
The regional framework for strengthening nursing and midwifery in the Region 2016–2025 was finalized in 2016 and shared with ministers of health. The framework guided the development of the Iraq and Pakistan nursing and midwifery strategies, and the Somali midwifery strategy.
A number of countries face protracted crises, which have led to shortages of health workers and jeopardized their safety and security. The remaining health workers have had to deal with the existing and emerging conditions, including mental health problems. A short course on mental health nursing in emergencies was developed with the first training provided in the Syrian Arab Republic in August 2016. The fellowship programme has continued to support countries to build national capacities in the five regional priority areas and 50 fellowships were awarded in 2016 in the Region.
In 2017, WHO will continue to provide technical assistance to countries to develop strategies and plans to tackle health workforce challenges. These will take account of population needs and the dynamics of the labour market. Assistance will also be given to build governance capacity for implementation of health workforce strategies. Emphasis will be placed on strengthening the primary care workforce, especially a team approach in family practice. With the increasing involvement of the private sector in education and employment of the health workforce, health workforce regulation requires greater attention. Efforts will continue to tackle the health workforce challenges in countries with protracted crises so as to ensure access to care.
Essential medicines and technologies
Within the context of health system development and universal health coverage, sustainable access to medical products (medicines, vaccines and medical devices) and health technologies is essential. To achieve this, countries should be supported to improve policies on health technology research, regulation, assessment and management.
Member States are showing more commitment to increasing transparency and accountability in the pharmaceutical sector through the good governance for medicines programme. A subregional meeting was held in 2016 for countries who are currently developing policies and action plans to improve governance of medicines, Afghanistan, Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan and Tunisia. The transparency evaluation reports for three of these countries have already been reviewed and published.
A survey on availability of essential medicines in the Region showed that shortages were increasingly frequent in most countries. Medicines in short supply are mostly products that are old, off-patent or difficult to formulate, or produced by a few or a sole manufacturer. Some of the reasons for shortages relate to production and marketing (e.g. lack of raw materials or fragmented markets), and others to characteristics of the supply chain system.
Countries were supported in the implementation of WHO’s global action plan on antimicrobial resistance. Planned training courses in 2017 will support the provision of reliable data on national consumption of antimicrobials, which is a prerequisite for understanding the epidemiology of antibiotic resistance.
Regional challenges in accessing controlled medicines for therapeutic use are wide-ranging and include regulatory, legal, policy, awareness and economic factors. The Regional Office is planning to develop a regional strategy to achieve balance in access to and regulation of controlled medicines in 2017.
Pakistan was supported to determine the scope of traditional/alternative treatment and to review the education system for traditional medicine. Technical guidance on intellectual property rights and their implications for research and development of medical products continued in 2016. A national workshop was organized in Egypt to discuss intellectual property rights and patency in Egypt, as well as legislation and law enforcement for counterfeit medicines.
Regulation of medical products, in particular medicines and medical devices, is a priority in countries of the Region. Through the WHO national regulatory authorities benchmarking tool, assessments of the regulatory capacity of Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syrian Arab Republic were conducted and performance gaps were identified. Accordingly, detailed institutional development plans for their regulatory authorities were developed. The Eastern Mediterranean Drug Regulatory Authority Conference was held in Tunisia in 2016 to enhance cooperation between regulatory authorities in the Region.
A regional publication on developing regulation on medical devices and integrating it into the existing functions of regulatory authorities was prepared and shared with countries during the intercountry meeting on strengthening medical devices regulation in the Region, held in Saudi Arabia in 2016. The meeting resulted in the development of roadmaps for designing and implementing a regulatory programme for medical devices in 15 countries. Currently, Bahrain, Sudan and Egypt are being assisted in the development/enhancement of their regulatory functions for medical devices. It is expected that more countries will be supported in 2017.
Technical support was provided in 2016 to: the development of a global model on medical devices regulation; the regulatory harmonization efforts in countries in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development which include Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan from the Eastern Mediterranean Region; and the Jordan Food and Drug Administration in its first international congress for drug regulators.
The regional health technology assessment network continues as an active platform for information exchange and knowledge sharing. Technical support was provided to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Oman and Tunisia to enhance or establish national health technology assessment programmes in their national health systems. Contribution was made to the development of a list of noncommunicable disease medicines and medical supplies for inclusion in a new emergency health kit for the management of noncommunicable diseases in humanitarian disasters and emergencies in the Region. In addition, a list of supplies for family planning/reproductive health/maternal health was also developed for inclusion in the interagency emergency health kit.
In the area of health technology management, a tool was developed that can be used by countries to prioritize medical devices based on their public health needs. The next step is to share findings with manufacturers and donors to explore the possibility of reducing manufacturing costs for priority medical devices to make them available to the regional population. The tool is expected to be finalized and shared with countries in 2017.
To increase access to and better management of assistive technologies, an assessment tool was developed which collects baseline information on national systems used for the provision and management of products for mobility, vision, hearing, personal care, communication and cognition assistance. The results of the assessment, which will be shared in 2017, will help improve coverage, policies and finances, increase availability and affordability, and enhance staff capacity and service provision.
Integrated service delivery
During 2016, support to countries in health service delivery was based on the WHO Framework for integrated people-centred health services, which was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2016. Within this context, WHO carried out a situation analysis out on service provision focusing on the family practice approach, assisted countries to build capacities in hospital care management and to increase access to comprehensive and quality health care services, provided evidence-based policy options, and monitored service provision in moving towards universal health coverage.
Experiences from other regions and good practices related to integrated people-centred health services were shared with the countries in several regional meetings. Guidance on strengthening emergency health care services was developed based on a situation analysis that was conducted in 12 countries of the Region.
In view of the importance of service delivery to universal health coverage, the 63rd session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean in 2016 adopted a resolution for scaling up family practice. In response to this, the Regional Office in collaboration with American University of Beirut developed a six-month online course on improving knowledge of the general physicians. An advocacy video on family practice was made and shared with countries on different occasions including during the world and regional conferences for family doctors in Brazil and United Arab Emirates. Several activities aimed at embedding quality of care within health care delivery in countries of the Region were carried out in 2016. These include: the development of a quality framework for primary care with 34 indicators, which has been piloted in four countries of the Region; technical support on patient and community engagement for quality as part of the people-centred integrated service delivery; the establishment of a patient safety system at the health care facility level based on the WHO improvement tool kit. In addition, technical assistance was provided to countries on the development of national policies and a strategy for quality as well as the mapping and review of health care accreditation programmes.
An assessment tool was developed on engagement of the private health sector in service delivery which will be tested in three countries of the Region: Jordan, Oman and Pakistan. Family practice profiles were developed for countries and distributed at the 63rd Regional Committee to inform country strategies to expand family practice. Pakistan initiated a hospital reform process in Punjab province with WHO technical support, and two model districts were selected for implementation of the family practice approach. Patient safety and quality of care remain a challenge in many countries, particularly those facing emergencies because of fragmentation of the health system.
During 2017, WHO will continue to provide technical support to Member States on scaling up service provision based on the family practice approach. This includes organizing short training courses to strengthen the capacities of general physicians in four countries, establishing family practice training centres in three countries, developing a model of primary health care service for countries in emergencies, establishing a family practice advisory group, and implementing tools and guides on assessment of private sector performance and private sector regulation, contracting and partnership. Countries will be assisted to establish their national quality policy and strategy and ensure better institutionalization of effective quality and safety programmes, particularly at the primary health care level, and to expand the WHO patient safety friendly hospital initiative. A consultation will be organized to develop a guide for accreditation of health care facilities. A hospital management training course is being planned. In addition, WHO will support countries in crisis to enhance health system resilience and strengthen service delivery through community health workers and outreach teams.
Health information systems
As part of efforts to strengthen country health data and measurement systems and in line with the political momentum around data as part of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, a technical package, with interventions proven to be highly effective in strengthening country health data systems, was developed in collaboration with WHO headquarters, international nongovernmental organizations, and country and regional experts.
In addition, to support routine health information systems and enable countries to report on the 68 regional core indicators (endorsed by the Regional Committee in 2014) and the SDGs, and following the intercountry workshop conducted in 2016 and technical discussions prior to 63rd session of the Regional Committee, key SDG indicators are incorporated in the regional core indicators list. Comprehensive reviews of the health information system were conducted in Jordan, Libya and Pakistan to support the ministries of health in strengthening the current systems that provide health-related information. Comprehensive health profiles of the current situation, challenges, gaps, opportunities and way forward for each country and health programme were published.
The implementation of the regional strategy for the improvement of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) remains one of the key priorities of technical support to strengthen the collection and quality of vital statistics and causes of deaths in the Region. Two more countries, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, conducted comprehensive assessments of their CRVS systems. Twenty-one countries now have complete assessments, CRVS road maps and national plans of action for CRVS system improvement. Moreover, Syrian Arab Republic also evaluated progress in the implementation of its CRVS improvement plan. During 2016, WHO headquarters launched an ICD-10 startup mortality list (SMoL) in conjunction with a DHIS2 platform. DHIS2-SMoL is an electronic application to facilitate cause of death collection and coding. It was introduced to countries during national CRVS implementation workshops and training was conducted in Libya. In the same context of improving the quality of ICD-10 coding of deaths, the Regional Office introduced Iris automated coding of deaths for the very first time ever in the Region. Sixteen countries which produce annual mortality statistics were invited to the Iris workshop. Towards more partner coordination and harmonization, the Regional Office collaborated with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and for West Asia, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the League of Arab States in support of CRVS strengthening.
To address the major gaps in reporting indicators that are mainly generated from population-based surveys, a new type of health examination survey was developed by WHO that focuses on behavioural and biological risk factors, health care utilization, health status and household expenditure. The first of these was conducted in Tunisia with government support.
Several challenges remain within health information systems. Population-based surveys and health information systems assessments need to be conducted on a regular basis in many countries. The ongoing conflicts in the Region and lack of resources continue to be among the main challenges to the improvement of CRVS systems. Intensive efforts are required for capacity building among physicians in high quality certification of deaths. Several capacity-building workshops on the DHIS2-SMoL are planned for 2017 and countries will be encouraged to introduce ICD-10 compliant certification of deaths in their undergraduate medical education.
Research development and innovation
WHO continued to support capacity building for research through workshops on: data management, interpretation and implementation strategy; good health research practices; and developing policy briefs. A research priority-setting exercise was conducted and the results used in a call for proposals for the tropical disease research small grants scheme. In 2016, calls for proposals for the scheme resulted in support for 8 priority research projects from six countries, and grants for research priorities in public health resulted in support for 10 research projects in eight countries. The Eastern Mediterranean Research Ethics Review Committee met to discuss ethical review of research funded by WHO and involving human subjects. In 2016, 47 WHO collaborating centres were supporting WHO activities in the Region.
The Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal continued its regular monthly publication, including a special issue on influenza and emerging respiratory infections in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The Journal received its first impact factor in 2016, a measure of the yearly number of citations to recent articles in that journal.
In the area of eHealth, profiles were developed for each Member State based on results of an eHealth survey conducted in 2015–2016. Evidence-based mobile eHealth (mHealth) applications were initiated and implemented in Tunisia (smoking cessation, diabetes control) and Egypt (diabetes control, smoking cessation, eLearning and telemedicine).
The way forward will focus on supporting Member States to improve their institutional capacity for the conduct, governance and oversight of research, and for the use of research evidence in decision-making.
Strengthening health systems for universal health coverage
Universal health coverage
In 2017, WHO intensified its efforts to support countries of the Region in developing their visions, strategies and roadmaps towards universal health coverage. Key strategic cross-cutting activities included the development of a priority benefit package for universal health coverage, enhancing engagement with the private sector and focusing on synergizing efforts through the so-called humanitarian–development–peace nexus approach, to enhance health system resilience in emergency contexts.
Health governance and financing
Clear vision, strong governance structures, functioning regulatory and financing institutions and effective partnerships are all critical to enhance health system performance towards universal health coverage.
Many countries of the Region have weak governance arrangements and limited accountability and transparency, hampering health system performance. Several countries continue to lack a clear vision and comprehensive roadmap to strengthen their health systems towards universal health coverage. In addition, insufficient public funding for health, non-existent or weak prepayment arrangements and inefficient use of scarce financial resources compromise the performance of health financing systems.
To address these challenges, special attention was given to supporting the development of national health policies, strategies and plans by undertaking governance and financing assessments and focusing efforts on building institutional capacity. Technical support was also provided to several countries to review their new national health strategies. In addition, several diagnostic tools were developed or adapted to inform health system reform and transformation. Specifically, tools for assessing accountability and public health were developed. Support was provided to countries to conduct health system governance and legal reviews, and to apply the joint framework to mitigate the risk of corruption in the health sector. In addition, work was initiated in the areas of decentralization, resilience and engagement with non-state actors. Regional training on the rule of law and HiAP was organized in collaboration with the Social Research Centre at the American University in Cairo and the League of Arab States.
Work on health financing continued to be guided by the regional framework for action for advancing universal health coverage to strengthen the performance of health financing systems and enhance the goal of financial protection. Specifically, support was provided to countries to develop their own health financing visions and strategies according to the country context, while also supporting the generation of necessary evidence. Technical cooperation with Egypt contributed to the enactment of a historic comprehensive social health insurance law, ensuring more public money for health. Support was also provided to Kuwait to review its health financing system and integrate a health financing strategy into the country’s national strategic health plan. Special support was provided to the Islamic Republic of Iran and Sudan to strengthen the strategic purchasing function of their health insurance organizations. Particular attention was given to the development of benefit packages for universal health coverage.
In the area of health partnerships, joint missions and coordinated support with GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Global Fund resulted in increased funding for health system strengthening in the form of increased immunization coverage and better control of HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis and malaria. Joint efforts with the Federal Ministry of Health of Sudan and other development partners culminated in the endorsement of a funding proposal to support governance reforms in the National Health Insurance Fund. Collaboration continued with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to combat corruption in the health system.
Health workforce development
A well-qualified and well-performing health workforce will be crucial for achieving universal health coverage. Countries continue to face an overall shortage of health workers in addition to imbalances in geographic distribution and skills mix. In particular, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen have a critical shortage of health workers. Furthermore, protracted crises have led to a loss of health workers and interruptions in health professionals’ education, exacerbating the gaps. The safety and security of the remaining health workforce continue to be a major concern. A rapid influx of refugees in some countries has led to increased workload and a decline in health workforce densities.
A framework for action for health workforce development was finalized in 2017 and endorsed by the 64th session of the Regional Committee in October. The framework provides strategic guidance for countries to address health workforce challenges. A number of countries embarked on strategic planning, and analysis of the health workforce and labour market was undertaken to guide the development of the strategic plans. The Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia and the United Arab Emirates developed nursing or midwifery strategies.
In addition, case studies were conducted in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan and Lebanon to understand the challenges and gaps in the primary care workforce and how to strengthen multidisciplinary teams in family practice-based primary care. A regional prototype nursing curriculum was developed to guide the process of developing nursing curricula; and curriculum review was undertaken in several countries. Finally, support was provided to Yemen to establish a B.Sc. nursing programme at the University of Aden.
With the increasing involvement of the private sector in the education and work of the health workforce, health workforce regulation is more important than ever. Strengthening governance capacities is critical; a workshop on strengthening the health workforce was held in collaboration with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and support was provided for the establishment of national medical and midwifery councils in several countries.
Health workforce observatories provide mechanisms to strengthen health workforce information and evidence. In 2017, a regional meeting on health workforce observatories was held to discuss how health workforce observatories can be scaled up, introduce national health workforce accounts and agree on a set of indicators to monitor the framework for action.
In 2018, efforts will continue to scale up implementation of the framework for action with a focus on the priorities of strategic planning to ensure availability, accessibility, quality and performance of the health workforce, strengthening health workforce governance and regulatory capacities, increasing investment in the health workforce and improving related information and evidence. Efforts will continue to tackle health workforce challenges in countries with protracted crises in order to ensure access to health care.
Essential medicines and technologies
Achieving universal health coverage will require countries to improve access to health technologies, including medicines, vaccines and medical devices. Aided by the technical support of WHO, Member States can improve access by developing national policies that promote the development of effective innovation, regulation, assessment and management programmes for health technologies within existing national health systems.
Through the programme on good governance for medicines, Member States were supported in establishing policies for implementing codes of conduct and managing conflicts of interest, increasing the public availability of information, developing membership guidelines for national committees, developing standard operating procedures for decision-making processes, establishing independent complaint mechanisms to improve protection for whistleblowers, and increasing societal engagement. An assessment report of transparency in the pharmaceutical sector in Pakistan was published in 2017. In collaboration with UNDP and the Arab Anti-Corruption and Integrity Network, specialized training on preventing corruption in the pharmaceutical sector was conducted for officials in Egypt.
Collaboration with countries continued in the implementation of WHO’s global action plan on antimicrobial resistance. Reliable national antibiotic consumption data for 2014–2016 from several countries of the Region will be published in the 2018 WHO global report on antibiotic consumption.
Surveys on national policy and regulation for traditional and complementary medicine were conducted in eight countries (Afghanistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic and Tunisia). These surveys managed to identify gaps in policies, regulations and practices to be addressed by Member States. Technical support was also provided to set up policies on herbal medicine, market surveillance and vigilance systems.
Technical support was provided to the Healthcare Technology Management and Advancement centre in Lebanon to become a regional hub for innovation in health care technology. Collaboration with the centre focused on developing strategies to enhance the spirit of innovation in health technologies, investigating existing resources to promote innovation, identifying clinical gaps that need to be filled, and strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration.
Regulation of medical products – medicines, vaccines and medical devices – is a priority in the Region. Through WHO’s global benchmarking tool for national regulatory authorities, assessments of national regulatory capacity were carried out in eight countries (Afghanistan, Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan) and resulted in the development of institutional development plans for their national regulatory authorities. Follow-up on the implementation of the plans will be conducted in the next two years. An informal assessment of the national regulatory authority was conducted in Saudi Arabia. The national regulatory authority in Saudi Arabia is now enhancing its capacity to appropriately regulate locally manufactured vaccines.
In 2017, a regional publication on the regulation of medical devices was translated into French. Several countries are being assisted in the enhancement of their medical device regulatory functions. WHO supported the establishment of expert committees of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development to promote the harmonization of medicine regulation involving Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan and Member States from the African Region.
Technical support was provided to INASante in Tunisia and the National Institute of Health Research in the Islamic Republic of Iran to enhance their capacities to conduct health technology assessment studies. Regional experiences in promoting and facilitating the establishment of national health technology assessment units or agencies were shared as a model for African countries to follow during the proceedings of the 2017 annual meeting of health technology assessment agencies and international networks in Rome. Regional experience was also highlighted in a special issue of the International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care.
A new pharmaceutical sector country profile was piloted in Libya and Sudan. The profile provides quality information on structures, processes and outcomes of the health and pharmaceutical sectors in countries of the Region. Training was organized to enhance the management of the supply chain for medicines and medical devices in Libya.
In support of efforts to improve access to and management of assistive technologies, a rapid assessment tool was developed to collect and analyse baseline country information. Results of the regional assessment were presented at the Global Research, Innovation, and Education in Assistive Technology (GREAT) Summit in 2017. Based on findings, a regional report is being prepared to guide the development of a regional action framework to improve access to assistive technology as an essential component of universal health coverage.
Integrated service delivery
During 2017, support provided to countries in the area of health service delivery was based on the WHO framework for integrated people-centred health services, which was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2016.
An online course developed in 2016 to build the capacities of general practitioners in family medicine was conducted in Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). An advisory group of family practice experts was also established to provide strategic guidance on scaling up family practice in the Region.
An important stage towards ensuring access to health care for all is to define which programmes, services and interventions should be provided and financially covered for the population. As an initial step in the development of a generic universal health coverage priority benefit package for the Region, essential health service packages were assessed in six countries (Afghanistan, Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen).
The critical role of the private health sector in advancing universal health coverage was highlighted by countries at the 64th session of the Regional Committee in October 2017. In response, work was initiated to develop a regional framework for action on advancing the role of the private health sector in the move towards universal health coverage. Analyses of the private health sector in countries of the Region were updated in 2017 and private health sectorfactsheets were prepared for 18 different countries.
Technical support in the area of hospital care and management included two national capacity-building programmes on hospital care and management for public hospital managers. A model for training master trainers was developed for rolling out the programme on hospital care and management. The model will be used to replicate this programme in the Region in 2018.
Available data from the WHO emergency care system assessment collected from 12 countries shows critical organizational and implementation gaps in the Region. A new initiative was developed to strengthen the capacity of hospital managers in hospital emergency preparedness and response, with the first national training conducted in Sudan. This course will be replicated in countries in emergencies during 2018. An assessment of national policies for the hospital sector was conducted in 2017 in order to develop a regional framework for the hospital sector.
Member States were supported in different areas related to quality and safety, including in the development of national quality policies and strategies and in technical review and guidance for national health care accreditation programmes. A regional study on mapping health care accreditation programmes was conducted and the report is being finalized. At the primary care level, a framework was developed that includes a set of 34 core indicators for quality of care for countries to use in assessing, improving and monitoring the quality of care at primary health care level. Member States were also supported in implementing the WHO maternal and newborn health framework for quality of care, and of patient safety interventions, including the launch and expansion of the Patient Safety Friendly Hospital Initiative in more countries. Other key activities included the integration of the WHO patient safety curriculum in 21 health care-related academic institutions in Oman as well as the implementation of the WHO core components of infection prevention and control in Qatar.
Health information systems
Implementation of the regional framework for health information systems and core indicators remains one of the key priorities for technical support in the Region. Key Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators are incorporated in the regional core indicators list to provide countries with a unified approach for reporting health-related indicators. Intensive work with Member States in strengthening country health data and measurement systems has led to a remarkable improvement in core indicator reporting, with an average increase of 15% in indicators reported at the regional level 2014–2017. In 16 out of 22 countries, the reporting of core indicators ranges from 76% to 95%; whereas in the remaining six countries reporting ranges from 62% to 75%.
As part of efforts to enhance the capacity of countries to report on indicators that are mainly generated from population-based surveys, a consultative meeting was held in December to discuss priority national population-based surveys, recommended survey modules and national survey plans to support the generation of data for key SDG indicators and effective monitoring of progress towards universal health coverage. In 2018, the results will be adopted to the context of the countries for use in national plans.
In 2017, comprehensive assessments of national health information systems were conducted in Libya and Pakistan as part of efforts to strengthen these systems. In Libya, the assessment was followed by the development of a costed national health information system strategy. A national health information system strategy was also developed in Jordan based on the results of its 2016 assessment. Three countries (Pakistan, Sudan and Syrian Arab Republic) were supported to pilot the district health information system, version 2 (DHIS2) to enhance the collection, processing, analysis and reporting of health data. A regional workshop was conducted in Jordan to build the capacity of national managers of maternal and child health programmes and health information systems in setting SDG-related targets for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health indicators.
Strengthening collection and improving the quality of data from civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems remains a key priority in the Region. During 2017, regional activities focused on building capacity for improved coverage and quality of mortality data. The WHO automated verbal autopsy questionnaire was introduced for the first time in a workshop for seven countries. In collaboration with Melbourne University and the Bloomberg Data for Health Initiative, a workshop was conducted to build the capacity of Member States in using ANACONDA, an electronic tool to assess the accuracy and completeness of mortality and cause-of-death data. To promote utilization of the electronic application for notification of deaths and causes of deaths (DHIS2-SMoL), a workshop for DHIS2 customization was organized for all countries in the Region. A regional orientation workshop on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) was conducted in collaboration with the WHO Collaborating Centrefor the WHO Family of International Classifications in Kuwait. National workshops were also conducted in four countries to build national capacity in certification of deaths and ICD-10 coding. A workshop on advanced ICD-10 coding using decision tables was conducted for the first time in the Region with the collaboration of the Bahrain Supreme Council of Health. WHO also supported workshops in several countries to evaluate progress in implementing CRVS improvement plans. During 2017, 12 countries reported mortality data using ICD-10 and one country used ICD-9.
Future work will focus on supporting Member States to address the remaining challenges with health information systems. In particular, countries will be supported to develop national survey plans to promote regular and focused implementation of population-based surveys. Piloting of DHIS-2 to enhance the collection, processing, analysis and reporting of health data is planned in Libya, and a comprehensive assessment of the health information system is planned in Afghanistan. The protracted emergencies in the Region and limited resources continue to affect efforts to improve health information systems, including CRVS systems. Further efforts are also needed to improve the quality of certification of deaths using ICD-10 compliant certification forms.
Research development and innovation
WHO support focused on building the capacity of health care and academic institutions in the use of health information resources, by promoting the Hinari Access to Research for Health programme and conducting national training workshops. The Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal continued its regular monthly publication, including a special issue on substance use.
In the area of eHealth, a regional situation analysis was conducted on national health priorities, potential opportunities and barriers for eHealth applications. In December, the first regional workshop on the development of national eHealth strategies was conducted jointly with the International Telecommunications Union. A scaled-up smoking cessation mobile eHealth (mHealth) application was launched in Tunisia. Implementation of other evidence-based mobile eHealth applications continued in Tunisia (diabetes control) and Egypt (diabetes control, smoking cessation).
In coordination with UNESCO, a regional summit of national ethics and bioethics committees was held in Oman in April with the aim of fostering regional cooperation to address emerging issues related to bioethics.
In October, the 64th session of the Regional Committee issued a resolution calling for the establishment of regional mechanisms to support the bridging of gaps between relevant research institutions and policy-makers and the translation of research evidence into health policy statements. An expert consultation on evidence-based health policy-making, held in November, highlighted the need to support Member States to improve their institutional capacity for the conduct, governance and oversight of research, and for the use of research evidence in decision-making.
Tropical disease research projects from six countries were completed, while 10 grants for research priorities in public health in eight countries were also fulfilled. WHO continued to support capacity-building for research through regional workshops on implementation research and on good health research practices. In 2017, there were 46 WHO collaborating centres supporting WHO activities in the Region.
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