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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
4141.0: Tuesday, November 12, 2002: 12:30 PM-2:00 PM | |||
Panel Discussion | |||
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| The concepts of primary health care and decentralized health zones were adopted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) in 1975, three years before Alma Ata. During the 1980s, health zones quickly became the building block of the national health care system. By the mid 1980s more than 200 of the 306 health zones were considered functional. About half of these health zones are officially managed (or co-managed) by church health services or other NGOs. The political, economic and civil crises of the past decade have wrecked havoc with the health system with alarming increases in morbidity and mortality and depressing decreases in preventive services, e.g., low vaccination coverage. Despites these setbacks, however, health zones continue to exist and many remain functional, due in large part to assistance from international donors, multilateral initiatives, and support from a variety of NGOs and PVOs. Health zones represent a strong foundation for rebuilding a sustainable, effective, and efficient national health system in DR Congo. This panel discussion will examine the origins, the evolution and the struggle for survival of health zones in DR Congo. It will define and explain Congo’s strategies for co-management, health zone classification, “Appui Global” and cost recovery. The session will also describe the development of a partnership between the Protestant Church of Congo (ECC) and Interchurch Medical Assistance (I.M.A.) to jointly manage a project (SANRU III) to assist the rebuilding of health zones throughout DR Congo. | |||
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participants will be able to: 1) Identify the components of a decentralized health zone. 2) List four reasons why health zones are the foundation for rebuilding the health system in DR Congo. 3) Define “Appui Global” in the context of rebuilding the health system of DR Congo. 4) List the three “crisis” categories of health zones according to the classification system used in DR Congo. 5) List several reasons for continuing limited cost recovery as part of primary health care in DR Congo. 6) List three appropriate roles of local and international NGOs in rebuilding the health system in Congo. | |||
| See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information. | |||
| Franklin Baer, DrPH, MHS-TM | |||
| Why Health Zones Continue to Survive in DR Congo? Leon Ngoma M. Kintaudi, MD, MPH | |||
| Providing Development Assistance in the Midst of Crisis William C. Clemmer, MD, William C. Clemmer, MD | |||
| Is Cost Recovery an Exploitation of the Poor? Larry Sthreshley, MPH | |||
| “Appui Global”: Coordinating Development Assistance to Health Zones in DR Congo Felix Minuku, MD, MPH | |||
| North-South Partnerships for Health Development in DR Congo Paul Derstine | |||
| Organized by: | International Health | ||
| Endorsed by: | Socialist Caucus | ||
| CE Credits: | Health Education (CHES), Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work | ||