Progress on Global Reform

 

Newsletter 
April 2011
In this issue
Young Professionals Call for Greater Emphasis on Social Mission
Adapting Recommendations to Health Education Reform in Thailand
Views from Africa
Global Network of Health Technicians Joins Discussion

Dear Colleague,

 

We are extremely gratified by all the attention generated by our Commission's report "Health Professionals for a new century: transforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world." It was one of The Lancet's most popular article online and it prompted numerous letters to the editor. We continue to receive many affirming messages from those who support a global vision for comprehensive reform in the training of healthcare professionals.

 

The report has already been translated into Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish and German, and there are plans for translations into French, Arabic and Portuguese.

 

The report's findings have been the subject of animated discussions at follow-up meetings around the world: in Karachi, Hanoi, Bangkok, Beijing, New Delhi, Dhaka, Washington, DC at the World Bank, Geneva at the World Health Organization's headquarters, and in London at the British House of Lords. Upcoming events are planned in Peru, Lebanon, China, Vietnam, and other countries. Although the Commission on the Education of Health Professionals for the 21st Century no longer meets, many of the commissioners are actively promoting reform in their own nations.

 

We have also established several important collaborations with allied initiatives: the NIH/MEPI program in sub-Saharan Africa and the China Medical Board/Rockefeller Foundation in Asia.

 

This newsletter is the first of monthly updates, featuring news and viewpoints related to advancing the reform recommendations. We will also be updating our website weekly at http://www.healthprofessionals21.org. Please forward this to others who might be interested in joining the effort or following its progress. And if this has been forwarded to you, please consider signing up for its mailing list.

 

Best regards,

 

signatures 

Julio Frenk, Dean, Harvard School of Public Health and Commission Co-chair 

 

Lincoln Chen, President, China Medical Board and Commission Co-chair

Young Professionals Call for Greater Emphasis on Social Mission

In a 7 April 2011 Lancet editorial, five members of the Youth Commission-formed to advise the global Commission on the Education of Health Professionals for the 21st Century-urged more social accountability in training. They propose five steps to better align health professional training with societal needs and the profession's social mission. Read more

 


Adapting Recommendations to Health Education Reform in Thailand

Former Thai University President Charas Suwanwela writes about the incremental changes Thailand has made in the education of health professionals and how the Commission report recommendations can be adapted locally to address unmet needs. Read more


Views from Africa

Editorials in Africa Health (from the CEO of the African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation) and The Lancet cite the significant challenges that exist in finding an African solution to health care. There are glimmers of hope, however, such as the US government's Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and its nursing education equivalent, NEPI.  Read more 


Global Network of Health Technicians Joins Discussion
The Jan/Feb/March issue of RETS, the magazine of the International Network of Health Technicians Education, summarizes the report findings and includes an interview with Julio Frenk, Commission Co-chair and Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health. The article is translated into Spanish, Portuguese and English, all of which you can find here.

 

 

report cover


 
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