Building Stronger Public Health Institutions and Systems (BIS) Program in Palestine
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Under the BIS program, NIPH is continuing long-term collaboration with Palestine to contribute to strengthening public health capacity within the Palestinian National Institute of Public Health (PNIPH).
Aims of the BIS Collaboration in Palestine
Our collective aim is to assist in the Palestinian efforts to build a sustainable national public health institute. We are collaborating in capacity building and research together with our partners in the PNIPH and the WHO country office. Institutional development, surveillance systems, national health registries, maternal and child health and the utilization of health data are among the activities we are engaging in.
The collaboration also includes supporting collaborating partners in the transition process of becoming an national institute of public health in Palestine organized under the leadership of the Palestinian Authority. The institutional collaboration between NIPH and its partner institutions will be facilitated through Collaboration Agreements.
History of Collaboration
NIPH has been engaged in collaborations with Palestine for more than a decade. NIPH has collaborated with, among others, WHO, the Palestinian Authority – mainly the Ministry of Health in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – Non-Governmental Organizations, and the Norwegian Representative Office. NIPH has supported the development of the PNIPH, which was established as a project under WHO in 2012, following three years of collaboration and preparatory activities. PNIPH has, from 2014, in agreement with the Ministry of Health in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and in partnership with NIPH and the University of Oslo, developed and implemented the mother and child health (MCH) eRegistry. This is the routine governmental documentation tool with clinical decision support for antenatal and postnatal care. NIPH has led cluster randomized controlled trials that were embedded in the implementation of the MCH eRegistry. About 360 out of 427 governmental clinics are now connected and using to the MCH eRegistry.
NIPH has also worked closely with the WHO to support the strengthening of the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s ability to implement and maintain the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) core capacity functions. A national IHR committee, including an IHR National Focal Point, was established in 2012.
NIPH Collaborative Team
- NIPH Country Coordinator: Bente Faugli
- BIS Project Management Support: Aurelia India Neumark
- Expert Technical Support: Mahima Venkateswaran, Eleni Papadopoulou, Therese Kari Øgaard, Bjørn Iversen, Frederik Frøen
