REGIONAL COMMITTEE
Provisional Agenda item 9.2
Fifty-sixth Session 10-13 September 2003
SEA/RC56/13
23 July 2003
SELECTION OF AN INTERCOUNTRY PROGRAMME OR CONTENT AREA FOR EVALUATION AND REPORTING TO THE FIFTY-SEVENTH SESSION OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE
In pursuance of the decisions and recommendations of the 53rd and 54th sessions of the Regional Committee, the 39th meeting of CCPDM had been requested to recommend to the Regional Director one specific programme/ content area from among those supported through the Supplementary Intercountry Programme (ICP-II) 2002-2003, to be evaluated and reported to the 56th session of the Regional Committee in 2003. The 53rd session of the Regional Committee suggested a series of criteria for the selection of a specific intercountry programme/content area for evaluation which should take into account (a) the extent to which the area has been identified in resolutions/recommendations of the Regional Committee, Health Ministers Meetings and Health Secretaries Meetings; (b) whether the area had been evaluated previously; (c) the size of the area in terms of allocated budget and countries targeted; (d) whether extrabudgetary funds might be made available, and (e) the “uniqueness” of the programme that would allow it to serve as a model for other WHO intercountry or country programmes or those of the Member States. Applying the above criteria to the 14 programme areas supported through ICP-II in the spirit of the recommendations of the Regional Committee and in view of the usefulness of programme evaluation, the following areas are suggested for the consideration of the Regional Committee. The Committee may consider one of the areas to be evaluated and reported to its 57th session to be held in 2004: • • •
Development of strategies for implementing community-based approaches for mental health problems and substance abuse. Intensification of cross-border collaboration in polio eradication, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, kala-azar and dengue. Development of regional networks to enhance national capacity in human resources for public health.
CONTENTS Page 1. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................1
2.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF INTERCOUNTRY PROGRAMME TO BE EVALUATED..........................................................................................................1
3.
POSSIBLE PROGRAMME/CONTENT AREAS FOR EVALUATION...............................2
Annexes 1. Programme/Content Areas for Supplementary Intercountry Collaboration 2002-2003 ..........................................................................................................................3
2.
Programme/Content Areas for Supplementary Intercountry Collaboration 2004-2005 ..........................................................................................................................4
SEA/RC56/13
1.
BACKGROUND
The evaluation of the supplementary intercountry collaborative programmes is an integral component of the WHO managerial process. It helps strengthen the dialogue among countries and the Regional Office and is an effective tool for adapting WHO’s technical cooperation to meet the challenges created by the regionalization of public health problems and assisting Member Countries to address these common concerns effectively. The Ministers of Health of the countries of the South-East Asia Region, at their eighteenth meeting held in August 2000, reiterated the need to evaluate the programmes and activities implemented through the intercountry programme. The 53rd session of the Regional Committee, held in September 2000, agreed that an evaluation of a priority intercountry programme area may be conducted and reported to the Regional Committee. A High-Level Task Force on Intercountry Collaboration (HLTF), comprising senior health officials from countries of the Region and the technical staff of the Regional Office, was established as an advisory body to assist in the joint planning of the intercountry programme for the 2002-2003 biennium. The Regional Director selected two supplementary intercountry programmes from among those noted in the previous resolutions of the Regional Committee, to be evaluated and reported to its 54th session. These were: • • “Tobacco-free initiative”, and “Improving the health of the marginalized and vulnerable groups”.
The evaluation of the intercountry collaboration programmes was carried out at both the country (India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka) and Regional Office levels by a joint team comprising representatives from Member Countries and staff from the Regional Office. The findings and conclusions of this evaluation were reported to the 54th session of the Regional Committee in 2001. In pursuance of the decision of the 55th session of the Regional Committee, held in September 2002, a joint in-depth evaluation of the Supplementary Intercountry Programme on the content area Multidisease surveillance and response, including health hazards, risk behaviour surveillance, through intercountry and interregional collaboration and use of regional mechanisms, like ASEAN, SAARC, Mekong Basin Project and Intercountry Cooperation in Health Development was carried out in six countries of the Region (India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand). The evaluation team comprised national health officials and staff from the Regional Office. The report of the joint evaluation team is to be discussed by CCPDM as Agenda item 3.2 and by the Regional Committee as Agenda item 9.1.
2.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF INTERCOUNTRY PROGRAMME TO BE EVALUATED
The 53rd session of the Regional Committee suggested the following criteria for the selection of a specific intercountry programme/content area for evaluation:
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(1) the extent to which the programme/content area has been identified/highlighted by the Regional Committee, Health Ministers and Health Secretaries Meetings in their resolutions/recommendations; (2) whether the programme/content area has been evaluated previously (directly by WHO or through a tripartite review) or is proposed to be covered under the “global thematic evaluations” initiated by the Director-General; (3) the size of the programme/content area in terms of allocated budget and countries targeted; (4) whether extrabudgetary funds might be made available to the programme/ content area through WHO or other development partners, and (5) the “uniqueness” of the programme that would allow it to serve as a model for other WHO intercountry or country programmes, or those of the Member States (e.g. innovative or “interesting” elements, approaches, mechanisms etc.).
3.
POSSIBLE PROGRAMME/CONTENT AREAS FOR EVALUATION
The programme/content areas to be considered for evaluation during 2003 and 2004 have been identified by applying the above criteria to the 14 Supplementary Intercountry Programmes for 2002-2003 (Annex 1) and 2004-2005 (Annex 2). The CCPDM is requested to consider and identify one programme/content area, from among the following three areas to be evaluated and reported to the 57th session of the Regional Committee in 2004, keeping in view the criteria enumerated in Section 2 above: •
Development of strategies for implementing community-based approaches for mental health problems and substance abuse. Intensification of cross-border collaboration in polio eradication, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, kala-azar, dengue etc. Development of regional networks to enhance national capacity in human resources for public health.
•
•
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Annex 1
PROGRAMME/CONTENT AREAS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY INTERCOUNTRY COLLABORATION, 2002-2003 1. Multi-disease surveillance and response, including health hazards, risk behaviour surveillance, through intercountry and interregional collaboration, and use of regional mechanisms like ASEAN, SAARC, Mekong Basin Project, and Intercountry Cooperation in Health Development Strengthening national capacity for negotiation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Prevention and control of accidents and injuries Development of strategies for implementing community-based approaches for mental health problems and substance abuse Promoting the use of an integrated approach in child and adolescent health and development within the Framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child Regular reviews and monitoring to improve the coverage and quality of maternal health care for making pregnancy safer Mainstreaming gender perspective into health policies and programmes with focus on women’s health issues and women’s access to quality health care throughout their life-span Development of strategies for implementing national nutrition policies and plans to prevent, reduce and eliminate malnutrition Arsenic poisoning Making affordable and accessible essential drugs, vaccines and commodities (bednets, condoms) through the use of intercountry mechanisms addressing policy, quality, and supply issues Strengthening blood transfusion programmes and promoting quality assurance in public and private sectors for prevention of HIV/AIDS, and hepatitis B Promoting increasing use of information and technology Intensification of cross-border collaboration in polio eradication, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, kala-azar, dengue etc. Development of regional networks to enhance national capacity in human resources for public health
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
11. 12. 13. 14.
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Annex 2
PROGRAMME/CONTENT AREAS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY INTERCOUNTRY COLLABORATION, 2004-2005 1. 2. 3. Strengthen blood transfusion programme and promote quality assurance in public and private sectors for prevention of HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis Intensification of cross-border collaboration in priority communicable diseases (e.g. HIV/AIDS, polio, tuberculosis and malaria, kala azar, dengue, SARS, etc.). Multi-disease surveillance and response for existing and emerging communicable diseases, including health hazards, risk behaviour surveillance through intercountry and interregional collaboration (a) (b) 4. 5. Communicable diseases Noncommunicable diseases
Develop regional networks to enhance national capacity in human resources for public health Make affordable and accessible essential drugs and vaccines through the use of intercountry mechanisms addressing policy, quality, safety and supply issues (a) (b) Vaccine policy Bulk purchase
6. 7. 8. 9.
Comprehensive tobacco control programme Improving the coverage and quality of maternal and newborn health for making pregnancy safer Mainstream gender perspective into health policies and programmes with focus on women’s health issues and women’s access to quality health care throughout their life-span Promote the increasing use of information and technology (a) (b) Information systems Telematics
10. Promote the use of integrated approach in child and adolescent health and development within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (a) (b) Child health Adolescent health
11. Develop strategies for implementing community-based approaches for mental health problems and substance abuse 12. Develop strategies for implementing national nutrition policies and plans to prevent, reduce and eliminate malnutrition
13. Prevention and control of accidents and injuries (a) (b) Surveillance Pre-hospital care
14. Arsenic poisoning