::ICC::

The International Children's Center (ICC) was jointly established by the Government of France and UNICEF in 1949 in Paris in order to train and to support pediatricians from developing countries and to facilitate discussions on priority issues in child health. Even though, it was a popular center, fifty years later it was closed due to financial difficulties. With the support of Turkish Government, several UN agencies and Prof. Dr. İhsan Doğramacı the Center re-opened in 1999 on the premises of Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey.

ICC is a non-governmental organization set up to promote the physical, mental and social well-being of children of all ages in the context of the family and the community. The mandate of ICC is to be a catalyst, a pioneer in health promotion, in operational research and in national capacity building. It is also a multi-disciplinary think-tank that includes medical and social sciences and a training center.

ICC uses innovative means and strategies to fulfill its mandate. The Center is a global advocate for human rights, the rights of women and children, and reproductive rights. ICC works and cooperates with governments and UN agencies, particularly the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNFPA and ILO. In addition, ICC cooperates with professional societies, International Pediatric Association (IPA) and the International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FIGO), International Confederation of Midwives and International Migration Office (IMO). The breadth and flexibility of the ICC mandate makes the Center an effective and energetic body that triggers health action across different countries and regions.

ICC has close ties with its host institution, Bilkent University, a non-profit private institution of higher education established in 1984. The Bilkent Library, one of the best stocked current collections in Turkey, makes its resources available to ICC members in Ankara. Hacettepe University has agreed that time spent at ICC by Hacettepe teaching staff will be taken as time spent at the University, thus permitting the Center to benefit from the expertise of its academics. ICC has also signed agreements with Osman Gazi University in Eskisehir and Kocaeli University inIzmit.

INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S CENTER DESIGNATED AS WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) COLLABORATING CENTRE ON IMMUNIZATION TRAINING AND ADVOCACY

The WHO collaborating centres are institutions such as research institutes, parts of universities or academies, which are designated by the Director-General to carry out activities in support of the Organization's programmes. Currently there are over 800 WHO collaborating centres in over 80 Member States working with WHO on areas such as nursing, occupational health, communicable diseases, nutrition, mental health, chronic diseases and health technologies.

The International Children's Center designated as the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Immunization Training and Advocacy in May 2010. ICC will be collaborating with WHO in curriculum and material development for in-service training on immunization and training of national coordinators of selected countries in the European Region. Also, ICC will help in development of advocacy strategy and materials for immunization on child-rights based approach and providing support to countries in implementing child rights-based approach.

Within these objectives, ICC will organized the following activities; collection, collation and dissemination of information, training and education and implementation of WHO programmes and activities at country level.

Within the context of WHO and ICC collaboration on Immunization Training and Advocacy, ICC has organized two International Training of National Training Coordinators on Training Modules for Mid-Level Managers on Immunization in October 2009 and in June 2010.

INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S CENTER (ICC), WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) AND AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS JOIN FORCES ON ICD-11 REVISION PROCESS

A DIRECT IMPACT ON PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMMES, PREVENTION, TREATMENT and RESOURCE UTILIZATION TRACKING: 11th REVISION OF INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION of DISEASES (ICD)

The International Children’s Center (ICC) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) hosted the meeting on International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Revision: Diagnostic Issues on Children and Youth on 28 February- 1 March 2011 in Ankara, Turkey.

Dr. Tomris Turmen, President of ICC, Dr. Jeffery Linzer Sr., representative of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Chair of the Pediatric Topic Advisory Group, Dr. Bedirhan Ustun, WHO-ICD Program Director met with a broad based group representing Turkish Ministry of Health, Turkish Pediatric Specialists, researchers, and academicians to discuss the ICD revision process on how it will effect children’s health care.

The ICD is the international standard for categorizing and reporting diseases, health related situations and external causes of illness and injury. It provides a common language for tracking morbidity and mortality. With the challenges of emerging diseases and improving diagnostic capabilities, one of the goals of the 11^th Revision will allow for more robust system than can easily flex as new medical information becomes available.

The ICC is a non-governmental organization and a Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization. The current ICD version (ICD-10) was released by WHO in 1990. The Revision Topic Advisory Groups serve as the planning and coordination bodies in the update process.