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d) Promoting the spiritual dimension in health. The Eastern Mediterranean Region is the
cradle of the divine religions. Its rich heritage and deep rooted spiritual beliefs are great
assets to build on for better quality of life and healthy living. The spiritual dimension is an
appropriate entry point to mobilize the individual, family, community and the nation to
what the religious teachings require. The Regional Office issued a series of health
educational booklets for health education through religion, under the title “The Right Path
to Health,” on different important subjects, such as Islamic ruling on smoking, Islamic
ruling on male and female circumcision, Health: an Islamic perspective, Environmental
health: an Islamic perspective and The role of religion and ethics in the prevention of
control of AIDS. The Regional Office published and circulated a formal religious opinion
(fatwa) issued by His Eminence the Mufti of Egypt condemning smoking and tobacco
consumption and distributed it in the form of posters among tens of thousands of
mosques, which proved, according to an evaluation study, instrumental in convincing a
large number of smokers to quit or plan to quit smoking. This fatwa is now gaining
impetus in the Region.
e) Community-oriented medical education. To meet the challenges of health for all, a well
educated and trained health workforce must be developed that is oriented to meet the
needs of the communities. Curricula of training institutions should be dynamic and
responsive to new changes in knowledge and technology and the new settings where
health workers will perform. The curricula of all health care providers should provide the
graduates with greater responsiveness to society’s needs. This could be achieved through
expanding community-oriented and community-based medical and health personnel
education, as well as promoting research in educational technology, educational
methodology and new learning settings. Community-based and community-oriented
education of health professionals strengthens partnership between the health care delivery
system and training institutions. Efforts are directed towards involving those who teach as
full partners in health care delivery and those who provide services as full partners in
training different categories of health personnel.
f) Leadership development. A leadership development programme has been initiated in the
Region. In particular, it aims to develop the leadership talents of health personnel of
different levels, to ensure performance of their tasks in the best manner possible. The
programme was conducted in its early years in the Regional Office and its modules were
prepared. It included field training in the Regional Office and in the countries of the
Region. Data on the programme were transferred to countries of the Region. A leadership
programme in Arabic was created in Egypt, a counterpart in French in Morocco and a
third in English in Pakistan. The leadership programme in the Region has taken different
forms and levels. Some countries have adopted it as a diploma course.
g) Basic development needs approach. The basic development needs (BDN) initiative is a
comprehensive approach addressing overall local development in order to achieve better
quality of life. Basic development needs initiatives include community-identified projects
that integrate social, economic, health and environmental issues. BDN projects are
organized and managed by the community, supported by a coordinated intersectoral team,
including health-related sectors such as education, water supply, agriculture and housing.