International Course on the Preparation of Peace Support Operations (PSO).
Marseilles, France - June 2010

The first session of this course, organized in cooperation with the ICMM, was held at the Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute (L'Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées - IRBA - Institut de Médecine Tropicale du Service de Santé des Armées) in Marseilles, June 21-26, 2010.

Fifteen participants attended the course, from nine countries (Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Burundi, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and United States). There were twelve speakers from five countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Spain, and Sweden).

This project was first conceived a few years ago, at the request of several Member States of the ICMM. The challenge was to organize a pilot course in Marseilles, which would be an interactive course in English. At the same time, the speakers on the course needed to have personal experience in the topics covered.

The topics covered by the course show the diversity and complexity of the issues faced by health services during this type of operation: physical and mental health, dental health, preparedness, risk assessment, health education, logistics, supply, field hygiene and issues concerning the chain of command.

The course program was a combination of lectures, discussions and group work. This gave rise to fruitful debate in an excellent atmosphere, thanks to the active participation of those attending.

We were also honored by the presence of the Secretary General of the ICMM and the Chairman of the ICMM Scientific Council.

On the final day of the course, the morning was spent enjoying a boat trip to the islands of Frioul, in beautiful sunshine across a calm sea. On one of these typically Mediterranean islands, participants visited the ruins of the Hôpital Caroline, a nineteenth century prototype to accommodate patients placed in quarantine at a time when there were several outbreaks of yellow fever in the ports of southern Europe.

The first session of this course was a pilot session, organized with a limited number of participants. It was, however, a great success and will provide valuable guidance for future sessions.