Roadmap to professionalizing the public health workforce in the European Region

Although the WHO European Region has made great progress in reducing the burden of noncommunicable diseases, gains still need to be accelerated. Since Member States are requesting guidance on how to build the capacity of the public health workforce to help in this response, this Roadmap offers pragmatic and actionable recommendations for professionalizing the public health workforce. To this end, and based on current practice in the WHO European Region, the Roadmap puts forward several possible levers that can be engaged with by the range of stakeholders who have important roles and insights into improving public health, including governments, ministries, national, regional and local health authorities but also public health training institutions, public health institutes, professional organizations and employers of the public health workforce.

Pharmaceutical representatives' beliefs and practices about their professional practice: a study in Sudan

Pharmaceutical representatives are an important promotional tool for pharmaceutical companies. This cross-sectional, exploratory study aimed to determine pharmaceutical representatives' beliefs and practices about their professional practice in Sudan. A random sample of 160 pharmaceutical representatives were interviewed using a pretested questionnaire. The majority were male [84.4%] and had received training in professional sales skills [86.3%] and about the products being promoted [82.5%]. Only 65.6% agreed that they provided full and balanced information about products. Not providing balanced information was attributed by 23.1% to doctors' lack of time. However, 28.1% confessed they sometimes felt like hiding unfavourable information, 21.9% were sometimes or always inclined to give untrue information to make sales and 66.9% considered free gifts as ethically acceptable. More attention is needed to dissemination of ethical codes of conduct and training about the ethics of drug promotion for pharmaceutical representatives in Sudan

[Attitudes of Tunisian medical students to medical practice: gender differences]

To better understand the impact of gender change in medical practice on health care in Tunisia, we conducted a cross-sectional study on the attitudes of 512 medical students [40% female] to medicine and medical practice in the Faculty of Medicine, Sousse. Female students attached more value than males to the intrinsic aspects of a physician's job, such as the desire to help others and to work with people. Regarding the dimensions of comprehensive care [psychosociological aspects of care, health education, patient-centred approach and medical prevention], there were wide differences between men and women. At the end of their training cycles, both male and female students ascribed less importance to these aspects than in the beginning

Priorities at the interface of health care, medical practice and medical education : report of the Global Conference on International Collaboration on Medical Education and Practice, 12-15 June 1994, Rockford, Illinois, U.S.A

Reforms in medical education and medical practice are needed, not only to ensure that doctors fit into health systems consonant with the goals of Health for All, but above all so that they proactively contribute to the shaping of such systems. Within the context of achieving the numbers and mix of the health workforce that make optimal health care delivery possible, the medical profession must examine itself in relation to society's needs. In response to these concerns, the World Health Organization and the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, Illinois, USA (a WHO Collaborating Centre for Educational Development of Health Professionals and Health Care Systems), co-sponsored a global conference on medical education and practice, 12-15 June 1994 in Rockford. The context of the conference was established by means of presentations on the interface between medical education, medical practice and health care reform; education of practitioners for global health sector reform; future health challenges in affluent countries and developing countries; priority areas in medical education and practice for the next decade; and guidelines for international collaboration. To further encourage reflection on possibilities for international collaboration, representatives of three WHO collaborating centres in medical education and practice described their institutional priorities and activities, and representatives of three medical schools outlined the programmes of international collaboration they would to pursue if designated WHO collaborating centres. Participants identified 18 priority areas at the interface of health care, medical practice and medical education under the categories of mission/policy of the medical school, partnership, health services, education and research. They selected, in order of priority, up to three areas in which their institutions were prepared to engage in international collaboration. These statements of institutional priority formed the basis of a matrix for international collaboration. Participants stressed the importance of building the capacity of individual institutions through optimal local use - and inter-institutional sharing - of human, material and financial resources. Information exchange should be maximized through means ranging from face-to-face contact at meetings to the use of electronic mail. There should be very active efforts to raise funds from local, regional and global sources. It was generally agreed that a consultative body should be set up to provide guidance on a shared strategy and to facilitate international collaborative efforts. At all levels, WHO was expected to be very important in mobilizing the various potential partners for collaboration worldwide. In particular, WHO headquarters could serve as a clearinghouse for information on people, organizations and activities. It was anticipated that after the conference the matrix would be circulated for further refinement and institutional approval. A WHO brochure then in draft would be completed, for presentation to potential donors and main partners in collaboration. The membership, responsibilities workplan and financing of the proposed consultative body should be determined. Preliminary plans could be made for a second global conference, possibly to be held in 1998

Practices and problems of female health/medical technicians in North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan

The Ministry of Health in Pakistan introduced in 1977 mid-level health workers called medical technicians to provide emergency aid and rudimentary services at basic health units and rural health centres. With the policy of placement of doctors in these units in the early eighties, their name was changed to health technicians, whose duties emphasized preventive activities instead of working as doctors' substitutes. The objectives of this study were to estimate the percentage of graduated female technicians in the service, understand their reasons for not joining or leaving the service, appraise their practices in comparison to the expected performance, identify and report the academic and operational problems and recommend measures to resolve these problems and improve performance