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

6. WHO SUPPORT TO THE CENTRE6.1. The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Office supported the Centre during its first andsecond years of designation through various contractual or Agreement of Performance(APW) including:6.1.1. Provision of the Centre with videoconferencing system for educational exchangewith countries inside and outside the Region (already reported in first report 2007-2008).6.1.2. APWs for short-term WHO expert / consultant contracts to advise countries andWHO meetings and experts consultations6.1.3. APW on Capacity Building in Primary Care & MoH Malaysia (on-going) (WPRO)6.1.4. Development of ‘Staying Healthy’ Programme addressing non-communicabledisease risk factors (on-going)6.1.5. Provision of WHO publications6.2. Useful education and training tools have been developed and utilized by theCollaborating Centre in many countries around the world, especially developingcountries which provide services on the basis on demand rather than their population’shealth needs. These tools include:6.2.1. Health Needs Assessment (HNA) Tool: Based on the Ten-Steps Methoddeveloped by Rawaf and Marshall (1999), this practical public health tool, designed forprimary care-led services in countries with less reliable data on population, diseasedemographics or activities, provides evidence about a population on which to planservices and address health inequalities.6.2.2. Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Tool: The impact ofdecision/actions/policies/laws on the health of any given population is not wellpracticed in most countries of the world. This is largely due to lack of expertise and thenon-availability of training courses. The health of a community is determined not onlyby the health of its services, but also and more importantly by a wide range ofenvironmental, social, economic, political and psychological factors. The use ofprospective HIA is vital to minimise the impact of potentially negative decisions on thehealth of a population. This step-by-step approach and useful training tool is used indeveloping the capacities of national health systems.7. RECOMMENDATIONSHaving recently relocated to the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, theWHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Training and Education will be leading onthe development of effective primary care and public health delivery.WHO CC ICL UK ANNUAL REPORT 2008 | 09 20