The IFHE continues to enjoy a close working relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO), writes the Federation’s WHO liaison officer, Paul Merlevede, who attended a Global Forum on Medical Devices held in late November last year at the Organization’s Geneva offices.
Meetings of the WHO executive Board in late January, at the same venue. At the meetings he shared information with those gathered on the purpose and function/ remit of the IFHE, and discussed how the Federation, as one of several NGOs involved, plans to provide input to a set of new WHO guidelines on establishing new healthcare infrastructure in ‘low and middle income countries’. Paul Merlevede says of the Global Forum: “The varied programme touched on all kinds of medical devices, but with a particular focus on accreditation, medical device design and manufacture, and making efficient, cost-effective use of such devices. Energy in healthcare “I presented on the IFHE’s behalf on ‘energy in healthcare’, discussing the various different potential energy sources, how to ‘design’ and start up energy supply, and running costs. I also participated in a panel discussion entitled ‘Infrastructure and energy’ with four other speakers. “During the Forum,” Paul Merlevede adds, “a WHO collaborator asked me to read a 200-page document on energy concepts in both developed and low resource countries, to provide comment and feedback, and to contribute some ideas for the document.” Role of the biomedical engineer Other sessions covered topics including ‘The biomedical engineer’ – education, job description, responsibilities etc., and ‘New technologies especially for low resource countries’, such as compact, single-component equipment able to undertake a number of specific blood tests, simple digital X-ray systems, and ‘low cost’ other medical imaging systems that work without using X-rays, suitable for use in disaster areas and war zones. Speaking on 23 January this year at the WHO’s Geneva headquarters, meanwhile, Paul Merlevede told delegates a little more about the IFHE and its functions and goals. He explained that the Federation is ‘a non-political, non-governmental, independent, and strictly nonprofit organisation’, with over 13,000 members in 33 national healthcare engineering organisations worldwide. Efficient infrastructure, ‘appropriate to local needs’ He explained to those gathered: “To achieve universal health coverage, countries require infrastructure to work efficiently, based on population needs, and to support national disease programmes. To avoid excessively high facility costs, the IFHE encourages more efficient management of the operation, maintenance, and safety, of healthcare facilities, their engineering installations, equipment and buildings, kitchens, cleaning, and other services. “Our ultimate goal is that people everywhere receive better healthcare. “IFHE’s membership encompasses engineers, architects, and other ‘specialists’ with expertise in different fields, including technical engineering skills, construction concepts, energy, and environmental issues. IFHE can offer substantial practical experience, supported by scientific information and data.” Five key ‘strands’ of work Over the next year, Paul Merlevede explained, the IFHE’s work with WHO would see it provide guidance and support in five key areas (see panel below). During January’s WHO Executive Board meetings, Paul Merlevede also attended a meeting on the WHO’s proposed document containing guidelines on establishing healthcare infrastructure in low and middle income nations. He said: “At a parallel meeting, which our IFHE ‘focal point’ liaison person, Dr Adriana Berumen Velasquez attended, a specific WHO commission that recognises nongovernmental organisations’ important role in collaborating with it, met. I prepared some information on the IFHE, which Dr Berumen Velasquez then presented. (The WHO’s Executive Board formally recognises the IFHE as an NGO working in ‘official partnership’ with the WHO.) A valuable web-based resource “At the meeting on the new ‘guidelines’ document, meanwhile,” Paul Merlevede explained, “the WHO set out a proposed contents list, and asked that the participating organisations provide relevant information. The end goal will be to be able to present useful web-based information on establishing better healthcare infrastructure for low and middle income countries. The participating organisations will look to provide guidance on ‘how to start from zero in building up a healthcare infrastructure’. “The first step for IFHE will be to collect and collate information on existing and proposed healthcare infrastructure from the various national member organisations. “The IFHE will then look to put all the information collected into a cohesive order, thus establishing an effective online ‘data centre’; our logo will feature on every page. Dr Berumen Velasquez will be seeking the money to fund the project.”
