Libya

We stood alongside the most vulnerable with a project dedicated to training and prevention.

The initiative dedicated to training and prevention

In the region of Fezzan, together with the Libyan Ministries of Health and Education, we supported a programme to improve the living conditions of vulnerable mothers, adolescents, children and elderly people. With this project, we contributed to the Libyan Ministry of Health’s efforts to launch the Primary Health Care Strategy. We supported prevention activities, training, the provision of equipment and vaccination programmes to promote healthy lifestyles and ensure the proper management and prevention of maternal, child and age-related illnesses.

Training sessions were organised for teaching staff, doctors and paramedics on the basics of child health in selected schools, supported by a team appointed by the relevant authorities. The project aimed to empower teachers and strengthen the capacity of school health unit staff to identify at-risk health conditions among pupils and communicate them to families and healthcare providers. To ensure access to functional first aid facilities, basic materials and equipment were distributed. The school health programme was delivered in selected schools through a general health screening programme for students.

Activities to promote a healthy lifestyle

Focusing particularly on women, adolescents and parents, awareness-raising activities were carried out to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent potential health issues linked to endemic diseases and conditions. The effort was concentrated in the Sebha area and extended to towns including Ubari, Murzuk, Ghat and Tahala. It will include information, education and communication events, the distribution of leaflets and brochures and radio broadcasts.

The project delivered refresher and up-skilling courses – including Training-of-Trainers (ToT) sessions – for local medical and paramedical staff in basic maternal and child healthcare, and supported the national vaccination programme through the following actions:

the supply of specialised portable chillers for outreach services for health units
logistical support for the implementation of the vaccination programme for children under the age of 5 in the Sebha area and the towns of Ubari, Murzuk, and Tahala.

Awareness-raising activities were also organised for the elderly population in Fezzan, led by a team from the participating health units, with the aim of promoting healthy lifestyles and boosting prevention of the main endemic diseases in old age.

Maintenance work and equipment supply

To ensure the delivery of quality maternal and child health services, maintenance work was planned, refurbishment and provision of basic medical equipment are also planned for selected healthcare facilities such as the maternal and child health clinic in Sebha, Al-Safia, the maternal and child ward of the Al-Rahma clinic in Sebha, and the dental centre of the Faculty of Dentistry of the Public University of Sebha. Medical equipment was supplied to the Ophthalmology Department of the Al-Rahma Clinic in Sebha to improve the management of eye diseases, with a particular focus on glaucoma.

The project to support the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer

In Libya’s main hospitals (Tripoli, Benghazi, Misurata, Sabha, Sirte and Sabratha) we supported the WHO’s WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) to improve conditions for paediatric oncology patients. The project aimed to secure essential medicines and supplies for the target hospitals, build the capacity of healthcare staff in paediatric oncology for the preparation and administration of chemotherapy, and provide palliative care.

The initiative formed part of a three-year agreement signed in January 2020 between the WHO Country Office in Libya and Rome’s Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. It involved 722 registered childhood cancer patients across the country. The agreement was designed to build the skills of medical and nursing staff at the paediatric hospitals of Tripoli and Benghazi in haematology, oncology and other paediatric specialities. The project complemented a similar programme developed in Syria at the university hospitals of Damascus and Aleppo.

By March 2023, 75% of the drugs purchased had arrived at both the Tripoli University Hospital and the Benghazi Children’s Hospital, resulting in 450 paediatric patients receiving treatment. The supply of targeted drugs lasted 18 months and was a crucial, life-saving component of the project. In view of the critical shortage of oncology drugs in Libyan hospitals, it was based on the assessment carried out by the WHO in February 2022, which reported a total number of 405 children selected for treatment in the two main childhood cancer centres in Libya mentioned above.

Two training sessions were held:

in June 2022: 13 people trained, including six doctors, two pharmacists, a laboratory manager and three nurses. The session took place during the Bambino Gesù evaluation mission to Benghazi Children’s Hospital
between November and December 2022: a month of On the Job Training at the Bambino Gesù Hospital to train a paediatric oncologist, a pharmacist, a microbiologist and an anaesthesiologist.

In addition to improving health outcomes for children with cancer by securing essential anticancer medicines and strengthening the skills of the health staff, the project also provided medical equipment and support for the families of paediatric patients, including:

the procurement and distribution of a total of eight cabinets to the two main hospitals in Tripoli and Benghazi, and to other paediatric oncology departments providing chemotherapy treatments, based on needs assessment
the development and dissemination of guidelines and protocols for treating children with different types of cancer, for palliative care and for supporting children and their families.