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3. Implementation of the recommendations
3.1 Proposed subsidiary products
Although these recommendations were developed in the context of updating the Pocket Book of Hospital Care for Children used at the referral level, they will also be
used to update the IMCI guidelines and other subsidiary child health implementation tools. Key tools to assist countries in the revision and update of national paediatric
guidelines that are to be updated or developed include, but are not limited to:
n
Pocket Book training CD-ROM
n
Hospital and self assessment tools
n
A manual for clinical use of oxygen
n
Integrated Management of Childhood Illiness clinical algorithms. he recommendations will be disseminated through various tools for improving
quality of care and capacity building. he Pocket Book training CD-ROM used for in-service and pre-service training will be updated and widely distributed. he
recommendations and the Pocket Book will be made available electronically as part of the quality of care improvement CD-ROM resource package, which will include
quality assessment tools, a framework for quality improvement, and self-assessment tools to support managers and clinicians with improving quality of hospital care.
3.2 Implementation of the recommendations
In addition to publishing the recommendations as a stand alone reference document, they will be incorporated into various products mentioned above. hey will mainly
be circulated through the Pocket Book of Hospital Care for Children, which is the standard guideline used at irst-referral level. he updated second edition of the
Pocket Book will be translated into French, Spanish, and Russian in collaboration with regional oices for wider circulation and readership. he Pocket Book will be
linked to the recommendations and the evidence used.
To increase its accessibility to the evidence used as the basis for the recommen- dations, it will also be made available for download from all of the WHO websites
headquarters, regional oices, and country oices and select WHO Collaborating Centres websites in various electronic formats. While wider dissemination will
continue through the Pocket Book sales in the WHO Bookshop, as well as through
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a distribution network to all medical libraries or individuals and through the non- proit Teaching-Aids at Low Cost TALC website.
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he Pocket Book will be introduced in medical and paramedical training institutions through national societies and in collaboration with the International
Paediatric Association IPA. WHO will also continue collaborating with various child health groups that have been instrumental in dissemination, implementation,
and evaluation of the Pocket Book, including:
n
International Child Health Review Collaboration ICHRC, a database of the evidence-base for the Pocket Book recommendations
http:www.ichrc.org .
n
Centre for International Child health, a WHO Collaborating Centre in Melbourne, Australia
www.rch.org.aucich .
n
National and regional networks whose missions are to improve the quality of care for children in hospitals, like the Kenya Medical Research Institute KEMRI
http:www.idoc-africa.org .
n
Collaboration with various partners like the International Paediatric Association IPA who are collaborating with WHO on improving quality of care through
their regional and national societies.
n
Collaboration with child health specialists at national, regional, and international levels to support national adaptation and implementation of the Pocket Book as
part of the process of improving quality of care.
n
Collaboration with medical students through national, regional, and international societies.
Evaluation of the guidelines will continue to be undertaken through periodic quality of care assessments in hospitals and through country reviews undertaken by the
department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health using the quality of care framework and the hospital assessment tools mentioned above.
3.3 National adaptation and implementation
hese recommendations have been developed mainly to provide guidance in the updating and development of standard paediatric treatment guidelines at national
level in resource-limited settings. It is expected that each country will adapt these recommendations to suit their context in consideration of the necessary resources
required for implementation. his will be facilitated by updating the current Pocket Book of Hospital Care for Children, which countries may adapt in developing national
standards of care.
Countries may already have various paediatric guidelines in the form of national treatment guidelines or hospital case management protocols. hese guidelines would
have to be reviewed and compared against the WHO Pocket Book for standards of care. It is recognized that implementation of some of the recommendations may be
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Teaching-Aids at Low Cost may be obtained at http:www.talcuk.orgbooksnewborn-and-child-
health-b.htm . Accessed on 29 August 2011.