FutureGenerations/Graduate School
To Research, To Demonstrate, To Teach – How Communities Change
17 October 2009
Honorable Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatemi, Minister
Ministry of Public Health
Government of Afghanistan
Dear Honorable Minister:
Future Generations was very pleased to have the opportunity to serve as a host to Dr. Said Habib Arwal, Coordinator for Community-based Primary Care of the Ministry of Public Health, during his recent trip to the United States. As you know, Dr. Arwal had been invited to speak at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) during its annual workshop on community-based primary health care (CBPHC), sponsored by the Working Group on CPBHC of the International Health Section of APHA.
While at the meeting, Dr. Arwal was able to meet many people from around the world who are working in public health including Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association.
Dr. Arwal made a presentation to a group of students and faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and he also had the opportunity to meet with high-level officials at the United States Agency for International Development and the State Department.
Dr. Arwal is a passionate advocate for community-based primary health care, and he effectively conveyed his own good will and the good will of the Afghanistan government in working with the people of Afghanistan to strengthen community programs and services which involve the people and which reach down to the village level. He gave outstanding presentations describing the work of the Ministry of Public Health and its recent efforts to strengthen community-based services. On the following page are some pictures of his recent trip.
My colleagues and I are not aware of any other ministry of public health in the world that has an office on Community-based Health Care. I want to commend you, Dr. Arwal, and your government for taking the leadership in establishing this office. We hope that your actions will serve as a model for other ministries of health around the world.
We at Future Generations and at Johns Hopkins look forward to continuing our collaboration with you, with Dr. Arwal, and with others to strengthen community-based health care in Afghanistan.
Sincerely,
Henry B. Perry, MD, PhD, MPH
Carl Taylor Professor for Equity and Empowerment
and Senior Associate, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
Following the presentation at the American Public Health Association meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 7, 2009
Dr. Said Habib Arwal (second from right) with Dr. Diana Silimperi, Vice-President of Management Sciences for Health (far left and Coordinator of the Workshop on CBPHC), Dr. Henry Perry (second from right, Professor at Future Generations and Senior Associate at Johns Hopkins University) and Dr. Paul Freeman, Chairperson, Working Group on CBPHC of the International Health Section of APHA
Following the presentation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 11, 2009
Dr. Said Habib Arwal (third from right) with Dr. Gilbert Burnham, Professor of International Health (to Dr. Arwal’s right), Dr. Carl Taylor, Professor Emeritus of International Health (to Dr. Burnham’s right), Dr. Henry Perry, Professor at Future Generations and Senior Associate at Johns Hopkins (to Dr. Arwal’s left), and students