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Table 4 Recife commitments, corresponding objectives, and progress reported: Sudan

From: Follow-up on commitments at the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health: Indonesia, Sudan, Tanzania

Recife commitments

Objectives

Progress reported

1: “To enhance performance”

1.1: “to improve the availability of adequate number of health managers, who have appropriate competencies and skills”

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) mandated the Public Health Institute to implement diploma and master programs in public health, health services, hospital and disaster management, and human resources development; 400 candidates, mostly staff of state ministries of health, were enrolled in 2014. More than 300 obtained a diploma and reintegrated to their position at federal and state levels.

1.2: “to enhance performance through the efficient critical management support systems - planning and budgeting; financial management; personnel management, infrastructure & logistics management; procurement and distribution of drugs and other commodities; information management and monitoring”

The FMOH invested in strengthening the planning, budgeting and monitoring, and information and personnel administration systems, but their full potential is yet to be realized, especially at decentralized levels. The FMOH and state ministries of health, with the support of the WHO and other partners, created a “planning platform” in 2014; it meets periodically and organizes training to build management capacity.

1.3: to enhance performance through an enabling working environment: degree of autonomy, clear definition and communication of roles and responsibilities, fit between the roles and structures, existence of national standards, rules and procedures, regular meetings, and supportive supervision;

Despite efforts to develop standards, rules, and procedures, progress in improving the working environment is slow. In 2015, the Cabinet issued a directive on improving work environment and retention to address the health worker migration to Gulf States. This was based on recommendations of the Federal Ministry of Health.

1.4: to enhance performance through updating the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) policy that in-service training/ continuous medical education is accredited as a means for licensing and relicensing;

In 2015, the Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Sudan Medical Council, initiated a policy process to develop guidelines for the accreditation of CPD and its linkages to licensing and promotion. A broad consultation is in process, and the adoption of the guidelines is planned to take place before mid-2016.

2: “To enhance quality of pre-service education”

2.1: “to enhance the quality of pre-service education through improved postgraduate and undergraduate curricula for medical, dental and pharmacist disciplines”

The FMOH, with support from WHO and the Sudan Medical Council, initiated a reform of medical education to align it with health service needs and strategies. A pilot curricular reform started in four medical schools; reform of dental and pharmacy curricula has yet to start. At the postgraduate level, the curricula of 20 postgraduate medical specialty programs were reviewed in 2014. The Sudan Medical Specialization Board (SMSB) is currently updating the curricula of other postgraduate programs. The SMSB is also leading a reform through a new strategy prepared in 2015 focusing on the expansion of training sites, decentralization of training management, introduction of nursing specialties, and strengthening accreditation. The SMSB increased added 10 new specialty programs, including nursing and midwifery.

2.2: “To enhance quality of pre-service education through improved pre-service curricula for the allied medical and health professions”

The Academy of Health Sciences (AHS) is currently updating nursing, midwifery, and laboratory, medical, dental, and pharmacy assistants’ programs. In 2015, three new branches of the AHS were added at the locality level. In addition, over 800 community midwives went through a crash program and were deployed to underserved areas in 2015.

2.3: “To enhance quality of pre-service education through the accreditation of postgraduate and undergraduate training facilities for medical, dental and pharmacist disciplines”

The Sudan Medical Council accreditation program, first established in 2008, has organized teams to conduct field visits to all medical schools in 2015. There are still no accreditation decisions, but the experience has triggered changes and facilitated resource mobilization for infrastructure and program development. The Council joined the World Federation of Medical Education “accrediting the accreditors” program; it has now applied to be accredited.

There is no accreditation of dental and pharmacy schools, but standards for dental and pharmacy schools were reviewed and finalized in 2015 by the Sudan Medical Council.

In 2015, the Sudan Medical Specialization Board developed standards for accrediting training sites and trainers. Application of these standards is underway [43].