Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal [2024; Vol.30, Issue 1] / [المجلة الصحية لشرق المتوسط [2024; المجلد 30 , العدد 1

Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal is the official health journal published by the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of the World Health Organization. It is a forum for the presentation and promotion of new policies and initiatives in health services; and for the exchange of ideas concepts epidemiological data research findings and other information with special reference to the Eastern Mediterranean Region. It addresses all members of the health profession medical and other health educational institutes interested NGOs WHO Collaborating Centres and individuals within and outside the Region.

المجلة الصحية لشرق المتوسط هى المجلة الرسمية التى تصدرعن المكتب الاقليمى لشرق المتوسط بمنظمة الصحة العالمية. وهى منبر لتقديم السياسات والمبادرات الجديدة فى الصحة العامة والخدمات الصحية والترويج لها، و لتبادل الاراء و المفاهيم والمعطيات الوبائية ونتائج الابحاث وغير ذلك من المعلومات، و خاصة ما يتعلق منها باقليم شرق المتوسط. وهى موجهة الى كل اعضاء المهن الصحية، والكليات الطبية وسائر المعاهد التعليمية، و كذا المنظمات غير الحكومية المعنية، والمراكز المتعاونة مع منظمة الصحة العالمية والافراد المهتمين بالصحة فى الاقليم و خارجه

La Revue de Santé de la Méditerranée Orientale est une revue de santé officielle publiée par le Bureau régional de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé pour la Méditerranée orientale. Elle offre une tribune pour la présentation et la promotion de nouvelles politiques et initiatives dans le domaine de la santé publique et des services de santé ainsi qu’à l’échange d’idées de concepts de données épidémiologiques de résultats de recherches et d’autres informations se rapportant plus particulièrement à la Région de la Méditerranée orientale. Elle s’adresse à tous les professionnels de la santé aux membres des instituts médicaux et autres instituts de formation médico-sanitaire aux ONG Centres collaborateurs de l’OMS et personnes concernés au sein et hors de la Région.

How does Switzerland’s health sector contribute to the economy? Health and the economy: a series of country snapshots

Health matters. The health sector is an important and innovative industry, as well as a source of stable employment for many people. Health systems support active and productive populations, reduce inequities and poverty and promote social cohesion. A strong health system makes good economic sense and underpins the overall sustainable development agenda. Countries around the world are grappling with the health, economic and fiscal implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. As they begin to recover from the crisis, difficult decisions will need to be made about how to allocate scarce resources. These snapshots share valuable evidence for policy-makers on how investing in health sectors and health systems helps to achieve national economic objectives.

Substance use atlas 2021

The Substance use atlas 2021 reports on progress made in the implementation of the regional framework for action to strengthen the public health response to substance use which was endorsed in 2019 at the 66th session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Following endorsement of the regional framework the Regional Committee mandated WHO to monitor and report biennially on its implementation. The atlas maps the resources and capacities of the countries of the Region to respond to the problems of substance use. It also highlights challenges and gaps and identifies areas where the public health response to substance use problems needs to be strengthened. The atlas provides aggregated regional information and individual country profiles with detailed information on available resources and capacities at the country level.

Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal [2023; Vol.29, Issue 3]

Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal is the official health journal published by the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of the World Health Organization. It is a forum for the presentation and promotion of new policies and initiatives in health services; and for the exchange of ideas concepts epidemiological data research findings and other information with special reference to the Eastern Mediterranean Region. It addresses all members of the health profession medical and other health educational institutes interested NGOs WHO Collaborating Centres and individuals within and outside the Region

المجلة الصحية لشرق المتوسط هى المجلة الرسمية التى تصدرعن المكتب الاقليمى لشرق المتوسط بمنظمة الصحة العالمية. وهى منبر لتقديم السياسات والمبادرات الجديدة فى الصحة العامة والخدمات الصحية والترويج لها، و لتبادل الاراء و المفاهيم والمعطيات الوبائية ونتائج الابحاث وغير ذلك من المعلومات، و خاصة ما يتعلق منها باقليم شرق المتوسط. وهى موجهة الى كل اعضاء المهن الصحية، والكليات الطبية وسائر المعاهد التعليمية، و كذا المنظمات غير الحكومية المعنية، والمراكز المتعاونة مع منظمة الصحة العالمية والافراد المهتمين بالصحة فى الاقليم و خارجه

La Revue de Santé de la Méditerranée Orientale est une revue de santé officielle publiée par le Bureau régional de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé pour la Méditerranée orientale. Elle offre une tribune pour la présentation et la promotion de nouvelles politiques et initiatives dans le domaine de la santé publique et des services de santé ainsi qu’à l’échange d’idées de concepts de données épidémiologiques de résultats de recherches et d’autres informations se rapportant plus particulièrement à la Région de la Méditerranée orientale. Elle s’adresse à tous les professionnels de la santé aux membres des instituts médicaux et autres instituts de formation médico-sanitaire aux ONG Centres collaborateurs de l’OMS et personnes concernés au sein et hors de la Région

Addressing human trafficking through health systems: a scoping review

Human trafficking is a lucrative crime and violation of human rights that exploits women, children and men. It includes trafficking for forced labour, sexual exploitation, forced begging and military conscription. The health effects of trafficking and the health needs of trafficked individuals and trafficking survivors are well documented and urgent. WHO European Region Member States recognize their responsibility to prevent and respond to human trafficking and to mitigate its health effects. As frontline health professionals may be the sole public servants to meet trafficked individuals while they are trafficked, the health system also has both a responsibility and an opportunity to promote and protect the health and other rights of trafficked people. No country or sector alone can address the ongoing challenges of trafficking, nor of emergent challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. This scoping review examines 237 articles, reports and grey literature containing research from Canada, the United States of America and the WHO European Region. It summarizes and synthesizes this evidence-informed research to help Member States in addressing the intersection of health care and trafficking and in attempts to prevent and respond to human trafficking. While considerable research covers the epidemiology of trafficking and the service delivery response, there is limited research on prevention efforts. The identified research shapes the considerations for policies to promote a comprehensive health systems approach to human trafficking.

Human resources for health in countries participating in the WHO Small Countries Initiative: a report on progress to date

This progress report was developed specifically for reporting on the status of the eleven countries participating in the Small Countries Initiative (SCI) (Andorra, Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino and Slovenia) regarding the development of national strategies for human resource for health (HRH) at the Ninth High-level Meeting of the Small Countries Initiative, Luxembourg, 10–12 May 2023. After a brief overview of the HRH-related situations in each of the countries, the report describes the status of national HRH-strategy development and actions currently underway to strengthen the health and care workforce in light of those proposed in the WHO publication, Health and care workforce in Europe: time to act (2022). The report concludes in identifying the current and most pressing HRH needs of the countries, using the SCI HRH Working Group as a key convening mechanism.

Strengthening primary health care financing: policy considerations for Kyrgyzstan

Development of the primary health care (PHC) system has been the core part of transformative health system reforms in Kyrgyzstan. Following various strategies, the country has made progress towards establishing a PHC-centred health system. Reflecting international evidence on PHC financing, this policy paper aims to describe the status of PHC financing in Kyrgyzstan and to provide policy options for strengthening PHC financing, in order to improve health outcomes and increase the value for money of public spending. Public spending on PHC services in Kyrgyzstan is comparable to that of other countries with a similar income level. Although PHC spending is prioritized in the health budget, per capita public spending on PHC is among the lowest in the WHO European Region. Kyrgyzstan has made efforts to grant universal access to basic PHC services. However, the complex multilevel PHC organizational structure and heavy reliance on narrow specialists do not allow maximum value to be extracted from the limited PHC budget. To strengthen PHC financing, Kyrgyzstan should consider reviewing its PHC benefits package to better align it with population health needs and the available level of public funding, redesigning the PHC provider payment system, and improving the provider monitoring mechanism.

High-value referrals: learning from challenges and opportunities of the COVID-19 pandemic: concept paper

The referral system is a crucial component of health care systems, aiming to ensure patient access to specialist health care when needed, while maintaining resource efficiency. This concept paper examines various referral types, with a focus on high-value referrals that minimize wasteful activities. Referral is defined as a dynamic process in which a health professional at one level of the health system – having insufficient resources or power to decide on the management of a patient’s clinical condition – seeks the help of another facility at the same or higher level to assist in the care pathway. A series of indicators are proposed to monitor and benchmark different referral systems, considering presential and non-presential referrals (including e-referrals) and classifying referrals by reason. The concept paper outlines the roles of referral system components, current issues, errors in practice, and suggestions for improvement. As part of the research, we conducted interviews with managers in different European health systems (Estonia, Italy, Malta, Spain) to learn about how they leveraged or changed referrals during the pandemic and which changes they would propose. While no single “best” referral system exists, a set of good practices and their driving and inhibiting factors were identified, allowing stakeholders at different levels of the health system to assess how best to collaborate and integrate these practices into service provision. The report lists a series of 80+ potential areas for action to improve referral systems, classified by system components.

Regional technical meeting on integrated care delivery. Report: virtual meeting, 8 December 2022

This report summarizes the discussion that took place during the Regional technical meeting on integrated care delivery. It represents a continuation of the discussion held as part of the Regional technical meeting on strengthening the integrated delivery of long-term care in the European region, in December 2021, bringing an expanded focus on integration as a transversal issue for health and long-term care systems and an important stepping stone for achieving universal health coverage. Participants discussed and shared evidence and lessons learned on the principles, the practice, the enablers and on-going challenges to improving coordination within and across health and long-term care systems, with particular attention to integration of primary care and community-based long-term care services.

Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal [2022; Vol.28, Issue 9]

Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal is the official health journal published by the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of the World Health Organization. It is a forum for the presentation and promotion of new policies and initiatives in health services; and for the exchange of ideas concepts epidemiological data research findings and other information with special reference to the Eastern Mediterranean Region. It addresses all members of the health profession medical and other health educational institutes interested NGOs WHO Collaborating Centres and individuals within and outside the Region

المجلة الصحية لشرق المتوسط هى المجلة الرسمية التى تصدرعن المكتب الاقليمى لشرق المتوسط بمنظمة الصحة العالمية. وهى منبر لتقديم السياسات والمبادرات الجديدة فى الصحة العامة والخدمات الصحية والترويج لها، و لتبادل الاراء و المفاهيم والمعطيات الوبائية ونتائج الابحاث وغير ذلك من المعلومات، و خاصة ما يتعلق منها باقليم شرق المتوسط. وهى موجهة الى كل اعضاء المهن الصحية، والكليات الطبية وسائر المعاهد التعليمية، و كذا المنظمات غير الحكومية المعنية، والمراكز المتعاونة مع منظمة الصحة العالمية والافراد المهتمين بالصحة فى الاقليم و خارجه

La Revue de Santé de la Méditerranée Orientale est une revue de santé officielle publiée par le Bureau régional de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé pour la Méditerranée orientale. Elle offre une tribune pour la présentation et la promotion de nouvelles politiques et initiatives dans le domaine de la santé publique et des services de santé ainsi qu’à l’échange d’idées de concepts de données épidémiologiques de résultats de recherches et d’autres informations se rapportant plus particulièrement à la Région de la Méditerranée orientale. Elle s’adresse à tous les professionnels de la santé aux membres des instituts médicaux et autres instituts de formation médico-sanitaire aux ONG Centres collaborateurs de l’OMS et personnes concernés au sein et hors de la Région