A regional consultation on accreditation of health professions education was organized jointly by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the World Federation of Medical Education, Association for Medical Education in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (WFME-AMEEMR) in Tunis, Tunisia, from 22 to 25 November 2011. Apart from Afghanistan, Djibouti and Somalia, all countries of the Region attended including South Sudan. There were 69 participants representing national accreditation bodies, deans and representatives of colleges of medicine, nursing, dentistry and pharmacy, regional and international experts and WHO staff.
The development of health professionals has been a vital area for WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean’s collaborative work with Member States since its inception more than half a century ago. Human resources constitute a critical building block of any national health system and form the cornerstone for attaining national health goals in any country. While the commitment of the Regional Office to human resources development has remained steady, the focus of its collaborative development work in this field has been shifting over the years to match countries’ growing capacities and stages of development of health systems including human resources in Member States. Despite the progress achieved in recent years in reforming and the improving performance of health care systems, health professional practice and health professions’ education, key challenges continue to face efforts to bring about sufficient quantity, relevance, equity, quality and cost–effectiveness.