Community surveys to identify health priorities [letter]

This article reports on the implementation of two workshops in Battambang (Cambodia) and Hunan province (China) in 1995 for Red Cross first aid and disaster preparedness trainers on the use of community surveys to identify health priorities. The overall aim of the workshops was to alert the trainers to their communities needs and to use the findings to modify the training curriculum and contents of the standard Red Cross Asian training manual. Overall the conduct of the two surveys showed that the method was flexible and workable in two countries with very different cultures and health systems and at different stages of development. In terms of the use of the manual certain topics were added or deleted according to local needs thus ensuring relevance to the trainers field work and avoiding a tendency to follow standard manual which may in some parts be inappropriate. However implementation of the agreed modifications was uncertain as there was lack of formal follow-up after the surveys. To this effect it is recommended that coordination and monitoring are essential to maximize the benefits of such surveys.