Health Education Practice in Libya; Professional Opinions

The aim of this study is to assess the perceptions of Libyan health professionals of their role in the provision of health education to the general public. It is also to identify barriers to effective health education and to suggest actions for a more effective role. A closedend questionnaire was distributed to 500 health professionals in five Libyan localities. Participants were requested to answer questions covering the responsibilities, importance and effectiveness of the existing role of health professionals in health education. Participants were also asked to indicate their perceptions of various barriers to the delivery of effective health education. A list of related suggested solutions for improving the practice was also presented. Nearly two thirds out of 500 health professionals responded to the questionnaire. A large majority perceived that they are responsible for providing health education and almost all (98.9%) considered this role very important or important. The effectiveness of their existing role was assessed differently. Participants perceived that lack of educational aids and materials and low priority for health education were the main barriers that should be overcome in order to improve services

Consultation on the Libyan health systems: towards patient-centred services

The extra demand imposed upon the Libyan health services during and after the Libyan revolution in 2011 led the ailing health systems to collapse. To start the planning process to re-engineer the health sector, the Libyan Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other international experts in the field sponsored the National Health Systems Conference in Tripoli, Libya, between the 26th and the 30th of August 2012. The aim of this conference was to study how health systems function at the international arena and to facilitate a consultative process between 500 Libyan health experts in order to identify the problems within the Libyan health system and propose potential solutions. The scientific programme adopted the WHO health care system framework and used its six system building blocks: i) Health Governance; ii) Health Care Finance; iii) Health Service Delivery; iv) Human Resources for Health; v) Pharmaceuticals and Health Technology; and vi) Health Information System. The experts used a structured approach starting with clarifying the concepts, evaluating the current status of that health system block in Libya, thereby identifying the strengths, weaknesses, and major deficiencies. This article summarises the 500 health expert recommendations that seized the opportunity to map a modern health systems to take the Libyan health sector into the 21st century