Improving pediatric hospital care – lessons learned. Inter-country meeting in Yerevan, Armenia, 19-21 October 2010

The WHO Regional Office for Europe iorganized a multicountry meeting for national focal points with the overall aim to contribute to the improvement of pediatric hospital care in a health systems framework.

 The Regional Office has worked on improving pediatric hospital care since 2002. This includes developing strategic approaches, guidelines, and assessment and training tools on strengthening child health services in first level hospitals. These tools have been the basis for development of national policies, strategic planning and capacity-building for the health workforce both at global and regional level.

 The meeting  disseminated best practices on improving child care in hospitals, discussed challenges, achievements and next steps to provide technical support to countries in improving the quality of pediatric hospital.  The meeting  furthermore focused on strengthening the child patient rights in hospitals.

 The meeting was attended by Member States of the WHO European Region, representatives from WHO Headquarters, the WHO Regional Office for Europe and country offices, other UN agencies, representatives of international organizations and other partners, including NGOs