The representatives of the International Lebanese Medical Association (ILMA) met with the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Firas Abiad, at his office in the ministry. This meeting provided an opportunity to summarize the ILMA conference, review the agreements reached, and discuss future plans. A highlight of the conference was the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Vitex Pharmaceuticals from Australia and their Lebanese counterpart, Pharmaline.
We decided to focus on several major projects that will significantly benefit the partnership between ILMA and the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. The first step is to establish an international office to coordinate and implement these agreements. This will be followed by a memorandum of understanding between the ministry and ILMA, in partnership with the UN and WHO.
The ministry will launch a joint committee with the Australian ILMA, which will be responsible for training and educating government hospital staff in cardiology and neonatal care. The ILMA in the USA will continue working with the ministry on the disaster preparedness project and explore potential opportunities to provide training to Lebanese teams responsible for disaster management. Additionally, the ILMA in the USA will look for ways to share expertise and speakers in relevant fields to support public health clinic staff in caring for underserved communities.
The final topic discussed was the need to issue a quarterly newsletter to promote the progress and development of the ongoing projects.