Alaa AbdelKader Sultan, MSc, Medical Department, Cairo University, 337 Ramsis St., Cairo, Egypt, +20101407507, asoltan@jsiegypt.com, Esmat Mansour Ibrahim El Sharkably, MD, MPH, PhD, Undersecretary for Primary Health, Ministry of Health and Population, Egypt, 21 El-Sabaa Sakayat St., Kasr el Eini, Cairo, Egypt, and Said El Dib, MA, John Snow, Inc., Healthy Mother/Healthy Child, 21 Misr Helwan Street, Floor 10, Maadi, Cairo, Egypt.

Maternal mortality in Egypt has declined by 52 % from 174/100,000 to 84/100,000 between 1992/93 and 2000. An essential element of this dramatic reduction is the comprehensive approach that the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) has adopted to manage its safe motherhood program.

Ministerial decrees were issued to establish Safe Motherhood Committees (SMCs) on the central, governorate, district and facility levels to narrow the gap between beneficiaries and decision-makers. The decrees also break barriers that separate curative from preventive care and clinical performance from administration. Community Health Committees (CHCs) of the local elected councils were reactivated by amending their role from investigation to collaboration to assure progressive client-provider interaction.

To merge local needs and national MCH objectives, a hierarchical list of indicators was developed: health status, service coverage, quality of care and community awareness. SMCs and CHCs developed district plans based on the current value of these indicators as identified by the community and facility assessments and their future value according to the Egyptian MCH Five-year plan and Healthy Egyptians 2010.

The Health Information System Centers established in all districts provide reliable information to monitor HM/HC activities and evaluate results. They uncover information needed for responsive decisions to local community needs.

Concurrent and retrospective quality checklists were developed using the national clinical protocols and tailored to help measure competency level of service providers and quality of offered services, define root causes for problems and develop self- improvement plans.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the role of safe motherhood committees in achieving the objectives of a safe motherhood program.
• Understand the role of community health committees in achieving community participation and client provider interaction

Keywords: Community Involvement, Management

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.