The El-Tal El-Kebir Story: An example of social accountability from Egypt

Abstract

Background: In 1985, the Faculty of Medicine at Suez Canal University responded to a request from the people of El-Tal El-Kebir, a district in Ismailia Governorate, Egypt, to assist them in addressing their poor health statistics. After an initial visit, the team realized that any long-term solution in dealing with and improving their community health problems needed a true inter-sectoral collaborative approach, with the involvement of other sectors such as agriculture, veterinary medicine, and education. The team also realized that establishing a true partnership with the community as well as the local governmental agencies was indispensible in order to maintain any long-term effects.

Aims: In this article, we will describe how the medical school mobilized other sectors to improve the community health.

Methods: The methodology adopted during this example of providing community outreach services was concordant with the principles of social accountability, which was later described by the World Health Organization.

Results: Our multi-sectoral team has established several projects for enhancing community participation in solving their own health problems.

Conclusion: Medical schools can lead a community development project in collaboration with the community.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to strongly acknowledge the pivotal role of the late Prof. Essmat Ezzat, the founding Vice-Dean and the ex-Dean of FOM, SCU, in starting, inspiring, and leading this project. The authors are deeply grateful for the help provided by Prof. Trevor Gibbs in supporting the writing of this article.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no declaration of interest.