• Improve the practice of fetal assessment and monitoring, and neonatal resuscitation.
• Improve maternal and child services at Children's Hospital #3 and Maternity House #5.
• Train a core group of instructors in neonatal resuscitation to train providers nationally in neonatal resuscitation.

Nursing Reform

• Improve clinical nursing practice.
• Provide support for the development of a professional nursing association.
• Assist with the review of nursing curriculum and provide technical assistance for the establishment of a university-level baccalaureate nursing program for both practicing nurses and future nurses.
• Provide technical support to the Ministry of Health to address nursing licensure and standards development, and legal issues affecting the profession.

Health Management Reform

• Train health managers from throughout the country in modern practices of health care administration and financial management.
• Plan for the establishment of graduate and postgraduate courses in healthcare administration and management.

Health Policy Reform

• Provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health in the review and revision of national health policy.

Clinical Practice, Diagnostic Capabilities, Biomedical Research, and Physician Training and Education

• Improve the medical practice and diagnostic capabilities, particularly in the areas of cardiology, gastroenterology, laboratory Services and radiology, including mammography.
• Provide assistance to Tbilisi State Medical University and the Ministry of Health for the review of medical school curricula and the possible establishment of a new school of medicine to be modeled after U.S. medical schools.
• Establish a radiology residency program and board accreditation standards and establish an x-ray film library, supplied by the American Board of Radiology, to be used in educating radiologists and for credentialing purposes.
• Develop the Diagnostic Imaging Center of Excellence at the Institute of Diagnostic Imaging in Tbilisi, and use this as the foundation of a radiology residency and the Center for Mammography.
• Work with the Ministry of Health and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, to assess the feasibility of establishing a modern biomedical research center in Georgia, appropriate to the needs and resources of the country.

Health Information and Medical Literature

• Establish a National Information Learning Center (NILC) to serve as a sustainable center of learning for students and practicing medical professions, and to provide access to the world's biomedical literature via the Internet and through print and CD-ROM resources.
• Provide technical assistance to Tbilisi State Medical University to improve the practice of library science and increase access to medical literature.
• Assist with the development of a national journal for distributing medical and pharmaceutical information.

NGO Development

• Establish a Georgian NGO/Foundation and sister PVO in Atlanta to collaborate on various partnership activities and serve as a conduit for financial support.

EMS Training Center

• Improve pre-hospital emergency care through the establishment of a National Emergency Medical Services Training Center to provide training in life support and emergency care.
• Provide emergency training for physicians and nurses and First Aid training for non-physicians.
• Provide educational materials (print and electronic resources) in emergency care and First Aid in the Georgian language for medical personnel and the general population.
• Research information on emergency and disaster medicine on the Internet and in other network facilities, making this information available to health care professionals and the general population.
• Assist in formulating and implementing a marketing plan for the long-term sustainability of the center, and providing ongoing training to center staff to continuously update their knowledge and skills.
• Establish a coordinated disaster medicine capability at the EMS Training Center to include first aid, dispatch, and special emergency care for the population in emergency situations and mass casualty incidents.

Micronutrient Malnutrition

• Provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health in assessing the extent and magnitude of iodine deficiency in the Republic of Georgia and in designing programs to decrease this condition in the population.

• On August 19, the partners celebrated the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Grady Health System, Georgia State University, and Emory University School of Medicine on the US side, and City Hospital No. 2, the Ministry of Health, and Tbilisi State Medical University in Georgia.

• The American Journal of Radiology published a report outlining findings of a survey conducted by the chairman of radiology at Emory University School of Medicine on the facilities available at City Hospital No. 2. (Vol. 161, pages 23-25).

• An endoscopic laboratory donated by the Atlanta partners was installed at City Hospital No. 2 for modern diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disease. A gastroenterologist was trained in current practice of endoscopy during a month visit to Emory University School of Medicine prior to the installation of the laboratory.
• The National Emergency Medical Services Training Center was opened on October 23 to train personnel from throughout Georgia in pre-hospital emergency care and life support.

• The US partners donated and installed electronic fetal monitoring equipment and completed training in the use of fetal monitoring in obstetrics at hospitals in Tbilisi and Kutaisi.
• The Georgian Nursing Association was established with aid and encouragement from the partnership.
• Partners held a national conference on nursing leadership. Nurse educators, trained through the partnership program, conducted continuing education sessions with their American colleagues. Nurses from partnership and regional hospitals attended the conference.
• During the year, partners co-sponsored five National Health Policy Workshops in Georgia focusing on health care reform, health care policy and human resources.
• In collaboration with the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library at Emory University, the Tbilisi partners opened the National Information Learning Center (NILC) in December. The NILC provides Internet access to the world's major biomedical databases and selected full-text resources, as well as on-site materials, reference services, document delivery and training in the use of MEDLINE and Internet resources for students, faculty, practitioners and government officials.

• The partners established the National Mammography Project as a vital intervention for early detection of breast cancer. In September, the Crawford W. Long Hospital of Emory University donated a mammography unit to the Institute of Diagnostic Imaging, establishing the first modern mammography unit in the Caucasus.
• The Emergency Medical Services Training Center developed and launched its own web page.
• Partners sponsored a second national nursing conference to train nurses in physical assessment and clinical skills development.
• In September, a complete set of radiological teaching files consisting of approximately 1,500 separate cases and films were transferred to the Institute of Diagnostic Imaging, in Tbilisi, Georgia. These files serve as the core-teaching curriculum at the Institute of Diagnostic Imaging and as the basis for the oral portion of subsequent radiological board exams.
• A prosthetics lab from Fitzsimmons Army Hospital was donated to the Traumatology Hospital in Tbilisi.

• In March, the partnership conducted its third national nursing conference.
• In May, the partners opened the Nursing Resource Center (NRC), located in the World Bank Continuing Education Center. The NRC serves as a center for continuous education and training for Georgian nurses.
• The US/NIH-Georgian Joint Symposium: Research Opportunities in HIV/AIDS, Emerging Infectious Diseases and Immunodeficiencies was held in Tbilisi, May 11-16. US partners were invited to make presentations during a special session on Tuberculosis and to moderate a session, which included presentations on tuberculosis given by Georgian physicians and scientists.
• The Georgian Ministry of Health and the Program Against Micronutrient Malnutrition at the Emory University School of Public Health held the Multi-Sectoral Management Course Workshop for Program Managers, Implementors, and Stakeholders for the Elimination of Iodine Deficiency in June. The workshop trained officials from several NIS countries in the public health approach to eliminate and monitor iodine deficiency disorders.
• Partners jointly conducted an initial study of thyroid-stimulating hormone levels in neonate cord blood samples in three areas of Georgia to determine the extent of iodine deficiency in the population. The study indicated that iodine deficiency posed a serious health threat.

• AIHA installed a local area network in the NILC, uniting not only 17 PCs of the Center itself, but 7 computers of the National Health Management Center and 10 computers of the Center of Continuous Medical Education.
• The Georgia EMS Training Center participated in the Medical Education and Inter-Regional Harmonization program for Nuclear Accident Preparedness program sponsored by Boston University Medical School and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
• The Center of Disaster and Emergency Medicine (CDEM) was established at the Emergency Medical Service Training Center in September.

• US partners trained their Georgian counterparts to be trainers in neonatal care and resuscitation. The Georgians then translated the training manual into Georgian and established their own outreach training group, called Neonatus. Twenty training (20) workshops were conducted training 478 health professionals since the opening of the Tbilisi Neonatal Resuscitation Training Center "Neonatus" in June 1998.
• The US partners donated and installed electronic fetal monitoring equipment and completed training in its use in 12 hospitals in Tbilisi and Kutaisi.

Nursing Reform

• The partnership provided a series of continuing education courses for nurses addressing practical clinical, leadership and managerial skills. Courses were jointly developed by a US-Georgian team and were conducted both in Atlanta and Tbilisi. Several nursing delegations completed intense train-the-trainer workshops delivered at Grady Health System. Since 1997, 54 nurses completed the Nursing Leadership course and 30 nurses completed the partnership-designed nursing skills courses.
• The Minister of Health created the position of Chief of Nursing in the Ministry and selected a partnership nurse to serve in this position.
• In order to formalize nursing education, Tbilisi State University (TSU) worked with educators from Georgia State University and Grady Hospital to create a university-level nursing school. The School of Nursing will be the first university-level nursing program in Georgia. TSU has identified space for the program and potential faculty. Curricula were developed for both undergraduate and graduate nursing degrees. Selection and training of faculty, on site and by visits to Georgia State University in Atlanta, were accomplished. The plans were delayed, pending the commitment of tuition scholarships for twenty-three students (twenty nurses and three social workers) by the MOH, which recently occurred; the nursing school and learning resource center are scheduled to open in 2001.
• The Georgian Nursing Association (GNA) was established in 1996, with branches in all 11 regions of the country. It currently has over 3000 members, and held its first convention held in 1997. In 1998, the GNA established a Nursing Resource Center, which has provide training in various clinical and management topics to over 1000 nurses nationwide.
• The National Nursing Management Center was established in 2000 to coordinate licensing and accreditation for the nursing profession.

Health Management Reform

• The Atlanta-Tbilisi partnership provided support to the School of Business Administration of Georgia State University and assisted in establishing the Caucasus School of Business Administration. This school is a consortium set up by Georgian Technical University, Tbilisi State University and the International School of Economics. A substantial grant was obtained from the Eurasia Foundation to support this effort. The first admissions were accepted in September 1999.
• Fifty-five health managers participated in a series of training seminars conducted by AIHA and the Association of University Programs in Health Administration.

Health Policy Reform

• The partners helped incorporate a national health promotion plan into the Georgian Health Project of the World Bank.

Clinical Practice, Diagnostic Capabilities, Biomedical Research, and Physician Training

• The partnership arranged a series of exchanges for faculty, deans and administrators from Tbilisi State Medical University (TSMU). During each exchange the participants observed teaching methodologies and completed a review of medical school curricula. As a result, the Georgian faculty and administrators worked with faculty from the Georgia State University to begin revisions to the TSMU curriculum.
• The partners are working with the Ministry of Health and one of the premier diagnostic centers in Tbilisi to establish a postgraduate residency training program in radiology.
• A program of medical student exchanges was established between Emory University School of Medicine and Tbilisi State Medical University (TSMU). Twenty-one medical students from TSMU have spent four to six months on clinical clerkships at Emory. Seventeen Emory students have spent one month each in Tbilisi, each with a specific health care project. Examples of topics covered include assessment of iodine deficiency in newborns, prevalence of HIV in TB patients, and technical support for the legal basis of medicine.
• A professor from Emory School of Medicine delivered a report entitled, The New Tuberculosis: Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology, at a conference on public health surveillance information systems which was sponsored by the Ministry of Health Republic of Georgia, USAID, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• A Georgian microbiologist from the National Tuberculosis Institute Laboratory was trained at Grady Memorial Hospital, the US State of Georgia Public Health Laboratory and CDC in modern techniques of AFB (TB) cultures. He trained other microbiologists and, as a result, the Georgian TB Institute laboratory's ability to perform TB cultures and susceptibility testing has been upgraded. Drug susceptibility information will be of great use to TB control programs and in implementing effective control programs.
• The Tbilisi partners organized four in-country lectures on HIV/AIDS for physicians at the Ministry of Health, the Infectious Diseases hospital in Tbilisi, the Dusheti District Hospital and the Pasanauri District Hospital. In addition, two lectures were given on HIV/AIDS to medical students in Georgia.
• The partnership conducted a survey of knowledge, attitudes and behavior among high school students in Tbilisi. The results of this study were presented at the XII International Conference on AIDS.
• The Tbilisi partners received a $50,000 grant from the World AIDS Foundation to support a counseling and testing center in Tbilisi.
• The partners completed an evaluation of radiological infrastructure present within Tbilisi.

• In collaboration with the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library at Emory University, the Tbilisi partners opened the National Information Learning Center (NILC) on 17th December 1996. The NILC supplies the information needed for every activity in the health reform process, as well as the practice of medicine and medical education. It will ultimately supply any educational institution in Georgia with available information as requested. Internet searching is the most heavily used service, followed by MEDLINE/full text and email. As of September 1999, the NILC had 200 regular users and 180 irregular users, totaling 3,400 user visits since the opening. The NILC gives classes to healthcare workers and the general public in techniques for email and Internet searching of medical and other electronic databases. Computer classes are given using seven computers.
• The NILC has established impressive Local Area Network, currently consisting of about 50 PCs and providing Internet resources to dozen organizations inside that building via its server: National Health Management Center, Center of Disaster and Emergency Service, National Family Medicine Training Center, Georgian Nursing Association and Nursing Learning Resource Center, Center of Bioethics and Medical Law, Medical Hotline, Medical Genetics Center GenEco, Partners for Health Foundation, and some remote sites.
• The NILC issues a biweekly bilingual bulletin, the Internet Medical Digest, which has a circulation of 300. The bulletin contains eight pages that cover topics in public health, health promotion, cardiology, oncology, AIDS/HIV, infectious diseases, epidemiology, disease prevention and control, clinical pharmacology, ob-gyn, tuberculosis prevention and control and micronutrient deficiency.
• Tbilisi State Medical University (TSMU) and Morehouse School of Medicine Multimedia Center trained their Georgian partners in improved practices of library science and upgrading access to medical literature. Cataloging standards used in the US and Western Europe were introduced and staff at TSMU were trained in these procedures. Emory University library regularly digitizes articles and transmits them to the National Information Learning Center (NILC) in Tbilisi. An average of 5-10 articles is sent per week.
• Five issues of the Georgian Medical Journal were published and distributed to medical personnel throughout Georgia to disseminate medical and pharmaceutical information. The continuation of the journal is pending alternative funding and revenues. The journal provided the foundation for the development of an on line medical and pharmaceutical information bulletin which is disseminated through the NILC.
• The NILCs computer classroom has been used for training in the use of the Internet, MEDLINE Search, E-mail usage, MS Word, MS Excel, and PowerPoint. More than 1400 persons, including 460 health professionals, have participated in NILC IT training sessions since its establishment. At present the NILC is working on IT course conversion to make these courses Internet-based and freely accessible (will be available via the Partnership for Peace Consortium's webpage from summer, 2002).
• Since April 1997, NILC issues the bi-weekly, bilingual bulletin, Internet Medical Digest (circulation 250-500 copies) and its shorter version, published in MOH Newspaper Meditsina (3,000 copies). Fifty-seven issues of the Digest have been published, eight pages each covering the most interesting topics of public health, health promotion, cardiology, oncology, AIDS/HIV, infectious diseases, epidemiology, disease prevention and control, clinical pharmacology, obstetrics and gynecology, TB prevention and control, and micronutrient deficiency. Electronic versions are maintained on the NILC web page. The NILC has received a $40,000 from the World Bank grant from the World Bank's Health Promotion Program to publish the Digest.
• The NILC web-page currently presents information about the healthcare system of Georgia (Structure of the MOH, its departments, State Medical Insurance Company, List of Tbilisi healthcare institutions). Planned expansion of this site will include additional information about both local and international healthcare programs.
• Two hundred sixty-eight (268) requests for article delivery have been passed to the Emory Health Science Center Library as part of our interlibrary loan (ILL) agreement. 178 articles have been received through the ARIEL document delivery system (software provided with OSGF funds).
• Four NILC staff completed a 4-month NASA-sponsored training program in telemedicine and space communications technology at the East-West Space Science Center (EWSSC) of the University of Maryland. Thirty-eight videoconference sessions were held with the EWSSC. 4 videoconferences have been held with the University of Cincinnati.
• Recently the NILC initiated a cardiology consultancy pilot project in Telemedicine - aimed at providing second opinions from cardiac surgeons from the US and other countries- thus assisting Georgian personnel of the CathLab at the Emergency Cardiology Center (ECC) to evaluate coronary angiography files and design operational interventions.
• The NILC has established a relationship with the Partnership for Peace Information Management System (PIMS). PIMS helped NILC to get more full text resources through the resources of the Uniform Service University of Health Sciences (USUHS. PIMS is going to establish high bandwidth wireless communication network in Tbilisi, Georgia between NILC/EMS, Central Clinical Hospital, Military Hospital and Military Medical School. These arrangements were originally scheduled for Fall, 99, but have been postponed to early 2000.
• NILC personnel drafted Georgia's National Concept Plan for Telemedicine and Distance Medical Education. This document was used as core structure for the corresponding chapters of the National Health Policy of Georgia and National Strategy Plan for Health Policy Implementation 2000-2010. These documents were discussed at the Donors Roundtable, organized by the WHO-EURO in Copenhagen in September 1999.
• The NILC has launched a number of special initiatives including the following:
  • PIMS Tbilisi Network to provide high bandwidth (2mgb/s) wireless communication to military, medical, and emergency medicine institutions.
  • Interactive Distance Medical Education - Interactive courses developed in cooperation with International Medical Programs (IMP, NY, USA) and PIMS.
  • Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) - open source platform development in cooperation with Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies, International Relations and Security Network (ISN, Switzerland) and other security organizations.
  • IT Basic Course Conversion to web-based source for ADL - in Cooperation with ADL group at Joint Forces Command, Joint Distributed Learning Center (Suffolk, VA, USA).
  • Medical doctors Journal Club - in cooperation with Georgian Cardiology Association, UMCOR and different Pharmaceutical Companies representations in Georgia (Pfizer, Servier, Berlin-Chemie, Merck, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Glaxo, etc.).
  • NILC has participated in organization of First ISN Executive Conference "Information Technology Prospects in the Caucasus-2001", sponsored by International Relations and Security Netowrk (ISN, Switzerland). June, 2001. www.isn.ethz.ch/caucasus
  • NILC was given proposal to expand its satellite to the National Medical Center multiprofile hospital in Digomi, due to inaugurated for June 2002. The 1200 sq. m space will be aloted to this IT unit in the modern multiprofile hospital, which is refurbished by World Bank grant and equipped by Japanese Government grant.
  • NILC Director Zviad Kirtava has been invited (June 2000) to join the Board of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) - the only existing online full-text medical journal available for free (www.bmj.com). He also become (December 2000) a member of the Expert Committee The Patient and Internet (Impact of Information Technologies on Health) of the Council of Europe's Health Committee.

• The Atlanta Tbilisi Healthcare Partnership after seven years of activities in Georgia was established as an NGO, the Atlanta/Tbilisi Foundation of Partners for Health(FPFH). The foundation serves as a quasi-governmental umbrella organization, which enables the partners to accept and utilize funding from abroad and serves as a clearinghouse for health initiatives designed to support reorganization of health care system in Georgia. Major priority is given to educational and training programs in the different sectors of health and social care. The foundations' activities currently encompass those of the NILC, EMS Training Center, Georgian Nursing Association, and the Journal of Medicine and Pharmacology. The program's overall goal is to support the improvement in health status of Georgia's population and to promote system reform. The FPFH received a total of 5 grants worth over $140.000 since it was opened.
• FPFH cemented relationships between the EMS Training Center and a number of international and national organizations to provide tailor special training seminars for their employees.
• FPFH is currently involved in several international projects to improve the overall health care system in Georgia.
• FPFH coordinated the collaboration between TSU and MOH to reestablish the university nursing school. In addition, an agreement was negotiated to develop continuous education programs for all Georgian nurses.
• The Foundation established the Health Science Center at TSU to coordinate all efforts in the field of medical and health education, health management education, and nursing education.
• The Foundation was instrumental in developing a number of initiatives in the field of rational pharmaceutical management approach development in Georgia and still is active in this field.
• FPFH was one of the major players in attracting the PIMS program. Through FPFH established relationship between PIMS an NILC further development occurred and currently NILC stuff receives constant training opportunities through PFP European network.
• Next project is International Medical Programs Corporation (IMP) attraction to start their highly technological and innovative programs base on Distance learning philosophy and video streaming modern digital technology in Georgia. Project is in it active progressing stage and created tremendous interest from Medical Society. First distance learning course took place in November in Modern cardiology. Four others will be held before march 2001, followed with continuous update of data presented. All data is accessible through PIMS WLAN. Focal Point for IMP is NILC. Moderator is Dr. Archil Kobaladze.
• FPFH's close relationship with the MOH enabled the Council of Europe's three years contract on health technology for the Georgian health care system. The first seminar was held at the FPFH's premises in December 2000.
• FPFH is one of the founding members of Georgian Association of Telemedicine and pioneers in telemedicne concept development in country.

EMS Training Center

• Since the opening of the training center in October 1995, 215 training courses have been held including Batumi Satellite Center; 31 courses were held at remote sites in Supsa, Kutaisi- West Georgia, Gurjaani -Kakheti Region, and Gori, Kartli Region. The center has trained nearly 3,846 people, including physicians, nurses, and a range of lay persons. Approximately 29 special training programs for non-physicians (for governmental guards, car drivers, mountain guides and four-day courses in First Aid for pipeline companies and children). For non-Georgian speakers, the EMS TC provides Russian-language training courses. The first Russian Language training was conducted in 1999. Special 10-day course was conducted in Advanced First Aid for non-medical personnel from Racha Region, West Georgia with 16 trainees totally, all representatives from High Mountain villages. The training course was funded and supported by the Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF).
• In 1996 the Learning Resource Center was established at the EMS TC that gave an opportunity to EMS TC staff to access information through the internet, including obtaining CD-ROMs, textbooks, medical journals, train staff in computer skills, produce curriculums.
• The center created a database to record information on all trainees and training programs. The distribution of trainees by region and by age are tracked.
• The Center has carried out numerous special projects such as: Healthy Generation, providing first aid training for school pupils; introduction to first aid and self service training; Medical Information Bank, a Database for Emergency Service and Disaster Medicine; First aid training for refugees from Abkhazia; the Trauma Prevention Project; UNDP/DMPT Disaster Management System program including two components: Regional Mode for the Caucasus and the National mode for Georgia. The project on Elementary, Medical Aid and Introduction of Self-education to the Community; the Interactive Distance Medical Education program with PIMS and a toxicological information consulting service.
• The EMS staff in Tbilisi produced three different manuals in First Aid and emergency care, one for medical personnel, one for non-physicians, and one for students. The EMS Center also produced three color illustrated textbooks, First Aid, in Georgian and Russian languages and an Advance First Aid manual. A one-day CPR course manual was also developed. Accompanying Power Point slides were developed for each course.
• The EMS Training Center negotiated a contract with the BP-AMOCO GPC to provide training for its personnel. The contract will assist the center in covering operational costs, an important element of center sustainability.
• Teacher-training equipment (mannequins, simulators, phantoms, demonstrating aids and other facilities) gives the Center an opportunity to organize practical sessions and disaster simulation drills, which familiarizes the students with a variety of different practical skills (CPR, ABC, Primary & Secondary Survey, Casualty Handling, Intubation, Central and Peripheral Line Insertion Technique, Cricothireotomy, Intraosseous Injection techniques, etc.).
• The Center for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (CDEM) was established by the MOH in November 1999 to coordinate national disaster response and practical training. The CDEM structure consists of the EMS TC and its branches, the Disaster Medicine Center and the Kutaisi Branch. It conducts practical training activities in Tbilisi and throughout the seven regions of Georgia. Its Tbilisi center consists of two renovated floors (800 sq.). The center serves to improve emergency medical care in the population; provide qualified first aid and special emergency care during disaster and emergency situations; medical equipment, medications backlog build-up, storage and replenish; medical-consulting groups dispatch to any point of Georgia after receiving a call; Emergency care at the scene and patient transportation; involvement and participation in Health care governmental and regional programs; emergency care training for medical personnel/physicians, nurses; first-aid training for non medical personnel; promote emergency care at pre-hospital stage; provision of educational materials and electronic resources in emergency care and first aid programs.
• The CDEM/EMS TC Dispatch Control Center (alarm center) was established, featuring the multi-channel three-digit phone number "001", allowing free of charge mobile and long-distance national connections.
• TelCoNet telemedicine software was established in the CDEM/EMS TC enabling telelinkages with other medical institutions in Georgia working within Emergency and Disaster Medicine.
• Nine training courses were held in Batumi satellite center during the reporting period All these courses were one of 3 levels: Basic First Aid, First Aid and Medical Care training program. One hundred thirty (130) persons were trained, all of them sailors in the Georgian navy. The EMS Training Center participated in a series of 2-month workshops designed to promote nuclear disaster preparedness. The first workshop in Yerevan and included three instructors of EMS TC as faculty. One training course was held within the above-mentioned program in October 1999, with the active participation of Georgian radiology experts and representatives of Yerevan EMS TC.

Micronutrient Malnutrition

• The Atlanta-Tbilisi partners shared their concerns about the nature and extent of iodine deficiency in the population with the Ministry of Health. At the request of the Minister, the partners provided the Ministry with a detailed briefing document containing information on the public health and economic burden of iodine deficiency as well as possible solutions. The recommended solution for elimination of the iodine deficiency was the implementation of public health programs to encourage universal consumption of iodized salt. The Minister briefed the Cabinet on iodine deficiency in Georgia, which led to a Decree from the Head of State mandating the universal iodination of salt.
• A team of consultants from the Program Against Micronutrient Malnutrition of the Emory University School of Public Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traveled to Georgia to work with officials from the Ministry of Health and Parliament. An action plan to eliminate iodine deficiency in Georgia was designed and incorporated into the health program of the Georgian Parliament and Ministry of Health. The program was funded initially by the Georgian Government. At the request of the Parliament, the Atlanta partners assisted the government to identify other sources of funding. The partners facilitated negotiations with Kiwanis International and UNICEF which led to cooperative efforts and a donation of $103,000 towards the iodization project.