Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine, Ministry of Health of Egypt, the Egypt ICT Trust Fund, WHO, UNDP and Vodafone Foundation celebrate today the launching of a project entitled “Tele-consultation, tele-education and e-Learning: A joint initiative”.
Promoting and improving the health of children is a key strategy of any country, as healthy children are the future of the nation. The health sector and medical teaching institutions play an important role in achieving this goal. The health sector, with all its levels, is the main service provider while medical teaching institutions are responsible for the production of the human resources who serve the health sector. They are the sources of science, knowledge and necessary skills.
Among the major challenges Egypt faces for achieving equitable child health, two stand out:
access to quality services in remote areas; and the hospital-oriented nature of teaching at the nedical teaching institutions, with insufficient time for hands- on practice. With this in mind, Siwa oasis was selected as a suitable area for this initiative, based on remote geographical location and the needs expressed by the population.
The paediatrics department of Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine is a pioneer and has a long successful history of collaboration in introducing public health approaches into the teaching curriculum. All partners collaborated in this joint initiative to meet the following objectives:
- Improve the health care provided to children in Siwa Oasis through:
o Teleconsultation in scheduled and emergency video sessions between the paediatrics department of Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine and physicians in Siwa, using different technologies such as case demonstration, video clips, etc.
o Tele-continuing medical education to physician in Siwa.
- Strengthening the teaching process through introduction of the e-learning concept.
The project duration is one academic year, during which all partners will collaborate to fulfillment of the objectives. A monitoring system has been established to measure the progress of the process and document it for replication in other sites.
For more information please contact:
WHO contact
Dr Suzanne Farhoud: Regional Adviser, Child and Adolescent Health, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Trust Fund Contact
Eng Hoda Dahrouj: Deputy Director, ICT to Foster Egypt’s SHD project, Egypt ICT Trust Fund at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
UNDP contact
Mr. Sherif El Tokali, ICT Specialist, UNDP Egypt Country Office at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
ABOUT WHO: WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends (http://www.who.int) . It currently includes 193 Member States. More than 8000 people from more than 150 countries work for the Organization in 147 country offices, six regional offices and at the headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Child and Adolescent Health and Development (CAH) programme envisions a world in which children and adolescents enjoy the highest attainable standard of health and development, a world that meets their needs, as well as respects their rights, enabling them to live to their full potential. For more information on CAH work in the Region: http://www.emro.who.int/cah .
ABOUT Egypt ICT Trust Fund: established as a partnership between the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology (MCIT) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2002 to assist the Government in the socio-economic development of Egypt. It aims at using information technology to further sustainable human development (SHD) and to build an information society capable of capitalizing on the emerging knowledge revolution.
ABOUT UNDP: UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners. For more info on UNDP: www.undp.org.
ABOUT Vodafone Egypt Foundation: An extra mile … to support our community. The Vodafone Egypt Foundation is driven by the Vodafone strategic goal of being a responsible business. The Foundation makes social investments that help the Egyptian people have better lives by:
- Sharing the benefits of developments in mobile communications technology as widely as possible.
- Supporting the local communities in which Vodafone’s customers, employees, investors and suppliers live.
The Vodafone Egypt Foundation was registered in 2003, as a civil sector organization recognized by the ministry of Social Solidarity. The Foundation is registered as a separate legal entity from Vodafone Egypt, governed by an independent Board of Trustees.