79 MEDICAL EDUCATION 1996, 30, 79
REPORT
Ministerial Consultation on Medical Education and Health
Services
Cairo, Egypt, 4-45 December 1995
WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean
Cosponsored by UNESCO and the World Federation for Medical Education
RECOMMENDATIONS
The overwhelmingneed to meet the internationally agreed
objective of achieving HFN2000 is universally accepted.
The problem is that, in many instances, educational pro-
grammes are not designed to meet the requirements of
community health services and the cost of medical educa-
tion and training continues to escalate. The dilemma,
therefore, is that in spite of recognition of the need for close
collaboratiodco-ordination, the medical education and
health care delivery systems in many countries continue to
function and develop independently of each other.
There is, therefore, an urgent need for the establish-
ment, at country level, of mechanisms for effective
collaboration between the health care and medical educa-
tion sectors. The modalities for such mechanisms will
vary from country to country and in some cases within
the same country. However, there are general principles
which are basic to the success of any of the mechanisms:
0 Political will and commitment on the part of all
concerned to change.
0 Involvement of all parties concerned in the plan-
ning stage of the mechanism.
0 The mechanism should be appropriate to the condi-
tions prevailing in the country.
0 The mechanism must take account of all the possi-
bilities that exist, particularly available resources
that can be utilized.
0 The mechanisms should be formal (institutional-
ized) with clear responsibilities and accountability.
(A) MEMBER STATES
01. The establishment, or hrther development, of a
National Health Council (NHC) for adoption by member
states. The aims, function and composition of the
proposed council are spelt out in the summary proposals
of the working groups (annexed).
0 2. Member states to convene national meetingslwork-
shops to discuss and plan for the establishment of such a
0 1996 Blackwell Science Ltd
council. The meetings should involve all sectors
concerned in this process.
(B)WHO/EMRO
03. WHO to give support to countries in convening
national meetings for the planning and establishment of
the proposed National Health Council.
04. WHO to continue to encourage and support health
systems research for the solution of community health
problems of health care delivery which will help the
proposed council in its decision-making process.
0 5 . EMRO to follow up the progress in the implemen-
tation of the recommendations of this consultation and
disseminate information about the development of mech-
anisms of collaboration from EMR and other regions.
06. UNESCO, the World Federation for Medical
Education and other international agencies to co-operate
with WHO in supporting the above initiatives.
(C) REGIONAL DIRECTOR
07. The Regional Director to bring to the attention of
the Ministers of Health and EducatiodHigher
Education the outcomes of this consultation and stress
the urgency for establishment of the proposed collabora-
tive mechanisms between the medical education and the
health care system.
0 8 . The Regional Director to include the subject of this
consultation in the agenda of the forthcoming Regional
Committee.
By adopting the above recommendations, the coun-
tries stand to benefit in the following ways:
0 Improved quality of patient care.
0 Facilitated health promotion.
0 Increased cost-benefideffectiveness.
0 Improvement of available resources for medical
education and training.
0 Appropriate health planning.
Alexandria: WHO EMRO Report 19/96.