RESUMO
In 2003; the Egyptian Minister of Health and Population launched a national accreditation program through a ministerial decree calling for the establishment of a National Accreditation Board (NAB). PHRplus provided technical assistance to develop and test accreditation standards and build the institutional capacity for the program. Consensus was rapidly reached that for the accreditation initiative to be successful; the program had to be accountable; credible; applicable; consistent; transparent; objective; and impartial of oversight. This report describes steps completed in the design of the program including: the development of the NAB to direct and oversee all accreditation programs; the training of Egyptian surveyors and identification of those qualified to become trainers of future surveyors; the development of a training curriculum to be used to train future surveyors; the development of hospital standards tested for their validity and applicability in selected secondary and tertiary hospitals; and the revision of primary health care standards to mirror hospital standards such that standards apply in all applicable settings. The primary goal of the accreditation program under PHRplus was to create the framework for a national health care facility accreditation program to foster a culture of improvement in health care that would be sustained and grow after donor support was terminated