2009 Annual Report - Imperial College Faculty of Medicine ...

objectives, methodology and content in addressing the public health in the Arab Worldcountries as such and in selected countries case studies. Our contribution to the workwill focus on two areas:1. Public Health in crisis, this will be illustrated with an example onone country which faced with the last few years major PH crisis due tothe prolonged period of sanctions and several wars, the last one andinvasion on external forces.2. Health System development in the Arab World with particularemphasis on the challenges facing the Health System in 22 Arabcountries and the Occupied Territory of Palestine.3.3 TOR #3: Provide evaluation of public health projects and disseminate goodpractice that has a sustaining impact on population and individual health.3.3.1. Psychonaut.com(7-8 July 2008, Barcelona, Spain)The Psychonaut Web Mapping Project is a European Union initiative tasked toresearch the online drug abuse community. Commissioned and funded by EUDirectorate G – Public Health (Cancer, drug dependence and pollution relateddiseases), its aim is to develop an Early Warning System for drug addictionprofessionals (European, national, regional levels) with easily accessible and reliableinformation. Staff at our Centre is full partnered researchers in the programme. Sinceits inception in 2002 the project has highlighted the emergence of the Internet as anunregulated source of controlled substances. Public health concerns include ‘ecommerce’style drug markets, the targeting of young people with attractive drugmessages and new drug trends and ‘recipes’. This two-day, high level EU meeting of15 Member States met to discuss the project’s second stream of funding and ‘nextsteps’. Recognising its importance to the individual and population’s health, the WHOCC will continue to support future EU initiatives and research involving the drug abusemarket with the intent on strengthening practice standards in health prevention.Additional funding was approved by the EU for 2010-2011.3.3.2. WHO Tobacco Free Initiatives Training Course(21July – 1 August 2008, St George’s University of London (The Medical School),Smoking Cessation Clinics (Wandsworth PCT) and various national organisations)Commissioned by WHO EMRO, the International Centre for Drug Policy (ICDP) basedat St George’s University of London Medical School provides training for physicians ontobacco-free initiatives and smoking cessation skills on a strategic and practical level.The programme runs annually and aims to promote the dissemination of good practice.This third two-week highly interactive training including discussion groups, lectures,smoking cessation clinics visits facilitates attitude change, brought about by healtheducation, proceeding to behaviour change.The WHO CC was instrumental in providing logistical, technical and administrativesupport to this event and important public health issue and was supported by ProfSalman Rawaf, Dr Lisa McNally, Isaac Ojo, Norman Evans.WHO CC ICL UK ANNUAL REPORT 2008 | 09 13