21 January 18, 2018, Tunis — WHO country office in Libya hosted the first health sector coordination meeting on 18 January at the premises of the WHO country office in Tunis. Representatives of concerned United Nations and international nongvernmental organizations working in health-related issues for Libya attended the meeting.
The Senior Adviser to H.E. Minister of Health and WHO Representative of Libya thanked health sector coordination members for their participation and contribution to the coordination mechanism. The Senior Adviser to H.E. Minister of Health also informed members about the Ministry of Health's plan to open a new office for the coordination of migrants’ health. The Senior Advisor advised that migrants would not be charged for health care services they may receive at the hospital.
Updates by UNICEF and health partners about nutrition were provided, which highlighted concerns about under-nutrition in certain areas. A national nutrition survey will be conducted using SMART methodology, during the first quarter of 2018.
The International Organization for Migration provided health support to about 15 500 migrants in more than 16 detention centres in 2017, but there were concerns about limited access of migrants in the community to health services, including immunization.
The results of the external independent monitoring of the immunization campaign conducted in November 2017 against polio and measles were presented as were updates on the drafting process of the Essential Package of Health Services of Primary Health Care, presented by GIZ, which is part of the European Union (EU-)funded Libyan Health System Strengthening Project. An extensive discussion ensued on remote management modalities, third party monitoring and cash transfer mechanisms, initiated by a study on EU-financed projects and programmes.
