WHO position statement on IMCI

The Multi-Country Evaluation (MCE), which ran from 1999 to 2007 with the aim of assessing the effectiveness, impact, and cost of IMCI, has been commended in this journal as "an unusually careful and instructive look at the promise and challenge of implementing a major global-health initiative through national health systems in developing countries".1 Indeed, with the completion of the MCE in Brazil, Peru, Tanzania, and Uganda, and publication of the final results from Bangladesh (Aug 1, p 393),2 a wide range of successful outcomes has been reported in more than 40 peerreviewed publications.