The Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) aimed to improve the treatment quality at first level health care facilities is being included in the training programme for under-graduate medical students as well as other health care providers in the country.
In this regard, an IMCI model chapter, which may also be considered a chapter of text book of paediatrics has been particularly developed for the MBBS students, containing assessment, classification and treatment guidelines for children under five years of age.
The strategy is to help children at both rural and urban areas through the use of standardised case management procedures.
Meanwhile, the Generic IMCI Model Chapter for text-books, a WHO-Unicef publication which has been adopted according to local needs of Pakistani children by Professor Iqbal Ahmed Memon, secretary-general, Pakistan Paediatric Association; and Professor Imran Iqbal of the Nishtar Medical College, Multan, is also being made available for general practitioners taking care of majority of children in the country.
The IMCI, a core strategy launched by the WHO to manage major health problems of children under five years of age in developing countries encompasses the "whole" child concept with major emphasis on common morbid conditions prevailing in the areas along with steps for prompt and proper intervention at first level care facility.
The IMCI guidelines address the most common life threatening conditions for children namely diarrhoea, pneumonia, measles, malaria, and malnutrition.
In addition, it also contains health promoting and preventive elements including immunisation, breast-feeding, nutritional counselling, Vitamin-A and Iron supplementation and treatment of parasitic infestations.
The programme would also be beneficial for contributing to the healthy growth and development of children, improving case management skills of health workers, adoption of standardised case management guidelines, in service and pre-service training and the follow-up by improving the health systems to deliver the IMCI.
Senior paediatricians have strongly supported the IMCI, which, according to them, through indigenous and national resources and with technical support from the WHO would actually materialise and benefit the kids.